


Inuyasha: Girl Lost In Time

by Amateur_Aries



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2018-04-17 15:43:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4672217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amateur_Aries/pseuds/Amateur_Aries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagome isn't the only one who fell through time, Keara has too but there has always been something odd about her. Foster family to foster family no one has figured out the mystery of Keara - not even herself. Will the past unlock her darkest secret? Starts from the beginning of the anime and follows loosely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

This will loosely follow the entire Inuyasha storyline from Keara’s point of view. Disclaimer: I do not own or manufacture or produce Inuyasha in any form. All rights go to their respectful owners. I simply own Keara.

**Prologue**

 

_‘One after another demons in groups and in hoards charge at her non-stop. She is beautiful but she is fierce and will never give up or give in and with her sword at her side she’s near invincible. She bleeds from wounds all over her body – she’s no immortal – but she fights in this war like a goddess. I live her war between purity and evil, between priestess and demons. Every night I experience her fire but long for her want for freedom that she can never have. Her soul is stuck in a sphere that surrounds us with a purplish aura, forever…In a never ending battle…’_

      I open my eyes slowly as the images from my dream begin to fade into streams of warm sunlight. They beam through slightly open slits due to mishandling of the black curtains that cover the large window at my side – the light washes the room eerily; just like my dream.

     ‘Always the same dream…every night…’

     Textbooks from a long night of studying and working, lie scattered across the hardwood floor below; reminding me of the shoe box project I have to bring to a fellow classmates house in just fifteen minutes. It is of a diagram on DNA and sits, completed, on my desk across the table. It’s a conjoined project, my partner did some of the diagram a few nights prior and I finished up last night.

     I sit up slowly, groaning quietly when my stiff joints crack and pop. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since I can remember and I really wish I didn’t have to sleep at all. I throw my legs off the side of my single sized bed and take a stand, stretching and popping my arms while the waves of my black hair tickle down my back.

     Grabbing my school uniform at the end of my bed, I take a minute to look down at it. This has to be the hundredth school I’ve gone too, the hundredth uniform I’ve worn, I sigh but don’t feel regret, remorse or even pity. Honestly, I lost count at how many schools I have really gone too and especially lost count of how many families I have been passed along too.

     I was no troubled child. Never caused problems or got into trouble – I just have this thing. My counselor believes I must have some sort of mood disorder because I never…I never feel emotion.

     Every foster family I’ve been with noticed my bizarre lack of everything, I’m practically a statue. Other than frowning occasionally, my face and body doesn’t express anything and deep down inside, if I could describe any feelings, would be emptiness. Hollow. Soul-less.

     Sixteen years old and I have been held back a year from school just because one foster family truly felt I was cursed but it just turns out, as my counselor stated, I am just mentally ill – we just don’t know from what – but that didn’t comfort them. They shipped me off a week after.

     I glance around at the emptiness of my room; no pictures decorate the walls, no colorful furniture or personals. Just a bed, desk, text books and two individual bags. One for clothes and another for school.

     Maybe I am mentally strange. After all I have prepared myself for another closed door.

     I guess it’s a whatever.

     Throwing my school bag over my shoulder and grabbing the DNA project, I head out of the apartment and to my next destination before school.

     The Higurashi Shrine.

\---

      A tall red and white torii gate stands in-between me and the Higurashi Shrine’s stairs, it stares down at me challenging me to the many steps to come that years of gym haven’t prepared me for. Up above where the shrine is I can just barely make out the top of a large tree whose shadow casts darkness over a few houses to my right. I can’t imagine how tall it’d be when I am up close.

     Holding the diagram closer I take the last few steps towards the torii gate, faintly my heart starts to beat faster and faster as I get closer. At first I think it must be nerves, I’ve never been here before or really get to talk to many people outside of my foster families but when I am only a foot away from the torii gate my heart is beating so quick it reminds me of a hummingbird’s wings.

     I stop, take a deep and long breath but it doesn’t slow down – just stays at its rapid beat. Maybe I am getting sick. A chill runs along my body and then, out of nowhere I feel a heavy push or pull throw me forward. The diagram goes flying out of my hands as I thrust them forward to take on the damage the stairs will cause and clamp my eyes shut in fear of the collision.

     I wait for impact.

     But it doesn’t come.


	2. Chapter 1: The Girl Who Fell From The Sky

**Chapter 1: The girl who fell from the sky**

 

       I wait for impact….But it doesn’t come.

      No collision, no pain but instead a growing tingle erupts from the tips of my fingers and rushes up through the rest of my body. It’s odd and chilly, like a cold wind on a normally hot day, but it’s not unwelcoming.

     Hesitantly I open my eyes and see a sight I thought I would never in a million years, especially given the circumstance. I see the green earth blow, wide and beautiful, with mountains peppering the land with white caps, specks of tiny villages here and there with ant-like people and an ocean so vast it looks like it goes forever, on my right.

      I must be dreaming. I had to have hit my head on my fall on the stairs and now am just living a coma dream but I can’t deny the in-depth detail and physically feeling I am getting. The air is cold, the clouds dampen my skin as I pass through them, the colors are right and vivid. And the closer and closer I come to this world I realize I am slowing down from a fall to a hover.

     The closer I am getting to the world the more I realize I am nowhere near the Higurashi Shrine…or even Tokyo. Matter of fact, I don’t see any city at all. This has to be a dream…yes a dream. Falling from the sky, to a world without a city.

     But when will I wake?

     My body begins to straighten on its own when I reach the tree tops, gliding through and somehow managing to miss every branch on the way down. Right when I think I will touch the ground I stretch my legs in hope the impact won’t be deadly and when my feet finally touches the grass my weight returns to me in one swift moment, forcing me down onto my knees.

     I look up to see endless blue sky above the canopy of green trees. I must be dreaming – I have to be – no one would have survived this. I must have hit my head on the stairs and am now in a coma.

     The air is fresh, free of the smell of city pollution; it fills my lungs and has me shivering. Coma induced dreams smell so real. The sound of birds, bugs and the subtle breeze is all that fills my ears. It is peaceful.

     I stand slowly thankful my odd floating scene didn’t leave my legs weak and wobbling.

     “Where am I?” I think out loud, knowing I must be going crazy but it’s still worth a shot. Only dense forest surrounds me and there is no openings or clues as to where I am or a path that has been used before so…I begin a slow trek into a random direction. Leaves float down all around me as I push through the shrubs and crunch below my shoes as I walk on top of them. I’m not exactly used to nature having grown up in the big city. 

     I don’t know the ways of forestry, how to get around it or through it. How to tell which way you should go with moss or following some stars but I can’t sit around. After a few minutes of pushing through bushes and branches I crash through the greenery to find a small clearing with a single, large tree directly in the center.

     The tree is oddly different from all the others, its vast canopy of leaves has to be twice the size of any tree I’ve ever seen and the sheer girth of the trunk is phenomenal. It would fit three…maybe four whole grown men if it was hollow inside.

     It’s not just the size of the tree that stops me, however, but the intense aura coming off of it hits me like a brick. Whatever it is comes off the tree like waves, constantly hitting me with a strong tingle than when I was falling – but it feels better than the cool wind as if it’s just right…This new sensation warms my entire being and drags my body around its broad trunk like a spell; I follow without struggling until I am stopped by not only the sensation but by the sight.

     There, against the tree trunk is a young man impaled to the tree by an arrow. How that lone arrow keeps him up there, six feet off the ground and holding his weight without snapping is beyond me. Where the arrow is punctured can’t be too far from his heart yet there is no blood.

     Matter in fact; this crime scene looks surreal peaceful.

     His long silver hair sways along with the breeze and his eyes are shut like he’s slumbering and not dead. I guess the vines that are wrapped around his chest and helps are kind of supporting his weight but it also means he’s been here for a long time – it should have taken ages for them to grow and to the width that they are. They look almost protective over his body or maybe cage-like. Possessive.

     There is nothing stranger than the pair of dog ears on the top of his head though. This could be a dream but I have never dreamt up a guy with dog ears before and I am still challenging this of being a dream to begin with. The ears match his hair perfectly, not at all odd in the placement but like they belong.

     I can’t deny that this tugging feeling is the only compulsion I’ve ever felt I my life, a odd clench of the heart that has me a bit curious. It gets stronger and stronger the more I stare up at him and eventually…I give in. I begin to climb on a portion of the trees roots that curve like a magical stairway to the young man’s body and once at eye level I get the chance to study him closely.

     My eyes wander his feature slowly, following the strong line of his jaw, over the gentle tip of his nose and down to his natural colored lips that are partly opened. He’s handsome and…peaceful.

     Is this how everyone looks when they sleep?

     Long silver tendrils of hair brush across his cheeks with the breeze, sending a chill down my spine. I brush them away, accidently running my fingertips along his warm cheeks. Wait. Warm? He’s alive-

     “Get away from there!” Shouts a male, his voice gruff and threatening almost. Before I can even investigate the sound of thunderous footsteps takes over the once peaceful silence. My body stiffens in reaction and I just barely look over my shoulder to see a shower of arrows flying my way. I react in the only way I can think of – by pushing myself flesh to flesh with the man before me – the sound of thuds colliding with wood fills my ears but I feel nothing hit me.

     I look around, every single arrow missed but still managed to hit the tree just not me or dog boy. My heart picks up speed but no fear or panic follows, just a rush of adrenaline and survival. I hesitantly turn towards the group of men, they raise another set of arrows but they too hesitate.

     I take the advantage. Not another thought crosses my mind when I jump down from the stairway of vines and bolt in a random direction. 

     Branches, leaves and tall grass scratch and tear at my skin and clothes, they bite at my legs and forearms but the pain hardly bothers me. The adrenaline will end quickly for me since my apathy doesn’t have me feeling the need to survive to the fullest with fear but I try to sprint faster and faster from the sounds of the men’s shouting. But no matter how fast I run, they sound like they are getting closer and closer.

     The farther I go the harder it is for me to breathe, I never got to stay in a gym class long enough to have my endurance up high and I begin slowing without my control until I finally have to stop in order to breathe. My lungs begin to freeze, they burn and ache, in a pain I never felt before. Okay…I know I don’t have asthma or any other serious problem, so why this amount of pain?

     And there it is, I feel that tugging I felt at the tree again but now it grips my shoulders like claws trying to pull me back. It’s bagging, almost ripping. It can’t be…can it?

     I turn my head in the direction of the tree but before I know what is happening a looped rope flies at me and I don’t have time to duck or avoid when it captures me in an embrace around my arms and chest. The man pulls quickly and I am forced forward towards the group like a helpless animal caught in a trap. 

     Their arrows are pointed at me, scowls all on their faces.

     “Let me go.” There is meant to be anger in my voice but it sounds too calm and collected to come off that way.

     I struggle against the tightening; the rope burns and tears my skin. Two dozen men or so, round me. They work together against my weakling strength to bind my hands and feet, causing me to trip in which one of the men catch me. 

     Still struggling, and weak from loss of energy and the tugging of my being, the men tighten and knot the ropes. That’s when I’m thrown over the shoulder of one of the many men.

 

    


	3. Chapter 2: Not The Only One

**Chapter 2: Not the Only One**

 

     “She appears human.”

     “Aye, in the queerest rags, she is.”

     “She’s one’em ‘Kitsune’ foxes using magic to look a girl, I say.”

     Demon or not more of them gather around me. The men had set me down dead center of a tiny village and not even a second later I’m surrounded by the townspeople dressed in medieval Japanese clothing that remind me of the Sengoku period…They have been whispering demon and war the entire time. Shouldn’t I be surprised that they are dressed the way they are?

     The men wear their hair in topknots, the women have long hair tied near the ends, none wear pants and their clothes are all bland in colors, grays, dull blues and greens. This place obviously has not seen or been touched by modern society. 

     Either I am still in a coma or I somehow magically got lost in the woods. I remember hearing about civilizations never touched by modern men, who’s to say there isn’t one here? But how did I get mixed up I all this? 

     Yeah I must be dreaming. However, if I am just in a dream, why do I hurt? The pain got worse the further I was carried away from the forest and now that I am stuck in the center of the village the pain feels like a cigarette bud on my soul. The strange pulling from before is still tugging at my shoulders but I am unable to reach this itch.

     I stopped wasting my breath after trying to yell – my voice didn’t go up an octave as I expected. I’ve never needed to yell in my life but apparently my apathy affects my vocal chords also. The men weren’t listening anyways and it doesn’t seem like there is anyone here for miles.

     Their voices drone out while I’m caught in my own thoughts and soon their conversations sound all the same. “Where am I from? Am I a demon? What kind of clothes are those?” I should be asking the same things. They look just as out of place to me as I am too them but I don’t have them tied up.

     “Make way! Make way! Lady Kaede the priestess is here!” Yells a man from behind the crowd. The villagers shift to one side or the other when the voice echoes over them but none truly leave. An elderly woman wearing the garb of a Shinto priestess and an eye patch over her right eye comes towards me with a small pot in her left hand and a long bow in her right. I eye the bow and quiver more than the mysterious pot she carries.

     She marches up to me showing no fear or curiosity, unlike the others around us – just certainty. She pauses a foot away, shifts the bow off her shoulder and hands it to a younger gentleman who had been trailing behind her the entire time. The elderly woman, known as Kaede from what I hear, reaches into the pot and pulls out a handful of fine salt and before I have a chance to respond she whisks it at my face. The speck burn my eyes and I groan in response from the tiny pains.

     “Demon be gone!” She chants in a strong voice; quickly throwing another handful before I can recover from the last.

     I move my head just in time the second handful and it misses me, “I’m not a demon.” My eyes meet hers, now red and irritated I’m sure, and she pauses. Her lone eye scans over me, taking in my attire and my apathetic state, probably wondering the same thing my foster parents had – why lack of…well this? I can just see the mental image of me: I lack everything: fear, concern, surprise, pain and anger. Though I can feel the pain…I can’t express it. 

     At least she stopped throwing salt at me

     “I sensed a demonic presence on ye.”

     Really, do you really? “Do I look like a demon?” That could be the wrong question to ask given my expressionless-ness, but she seems to be mulling over my appearance. Slowly her hands lower

     “Then why were ye in the Forest of Inuyasha?” 

     Instinctively I look over my shoulder towards the forest but the villagers surrounding us block my view and then I look up towards the sky where I had floated down. So maybe this could not be a dream, I’d sound crazy if I say I’d come from the sky.

     “Ye is right,” she grabs my attention back and I look back up at her. “Ye does not look like a demon but they would be a half-wit if thy ignores the presence surrounding ye.” Maybe she means my clothes? It feels like a long few minutes before anyone makes a sound, they all just watch us – while we watch each other. I’m waiting for her while she waits for me but for what? Finally, she closes her eyes, separating our line of sight. “Untie her; she is not here to harm us.”

     The surrounding crowd gasps in surprise, something I know I should be doing as well.

 

~**~

     All the children of the village follow us, their happy faces glowing as they travel at Kaede’s side but when their glowing faces turn to me a sense of unknowing overtakes what was happy and leaves them curious instead. They keep up with us as we go through the entire village until we reach the other side where a hill raises the land with a torii gate right in front of it.

     The scenery reminds me exactly of Kagome’s house – a stack of stairs leads up to a burial shrine on top of the hill and next to the torii gate is a tiny one room hut. When we approach it, I eye the torii gate, still rubbing my raw wrists of the aches the rope had caused.

      Kaede leads me through the reed door and into the one room hut, we settle around a fire pit whose fire still burns in the middle of the room; she must have left in a hurry since the fire is still heating up a kettle full of some kind of stew and rice.

     For a few minutes we just remain silent. Kaede stirs the stew and I glance around at everything, recognizing most of the tools, outfits and wooden furniture from books, television shows and even one time from a museum one of the many schools took me too. When I was at the museum most of the items were in protective cases or up in beautiful displays and I always felt this awkward longing when I went to see them up close. Which was odd since I truly never felt.

     “I am curious as to why ye has such hollow eyes. Ye almost appear as a demon. Did ye get cursed by one before the villagers found ye?” She breaks the silence.

     Demons, demons, demons. “No. Not even my therapist knows what’s wrong with me. No meds seem to have fixed it either. They think I have some kind of psychiatric mental condition but don’t want to put a stamp on my records yet. Apparently I have always been this way though.” 

     We stare at each other for another long moment trying to figure one another out I am sure. She breaks the ice again with, “is the therapist ye’s shrine priestess?”

     Okay, this is going a little too far. “No, a doctor.” I take a long deep breath, “Where exactly am I?”

     She smiles. I guess I asked the right question. But before she can answer there is yelling erupting from outside and she responds immediately the same way I am sure she did before me. She grabs her bow she brought back with her and the quiver along with it, and rushes outside leaving me alone with a brewing stew and time.

 

~**~

 

     Okay I am sure by now the stew is burning. I’ve been stirring and stirring but the smell is getting strong and stronger. It’s been about twenty minutes since Kaede has left and if I hadn’t been here her hut would have been burned down by the fire a while ago. There is so much to think about I don’t know where to start. What I know for sure is that the torii gate is definitely to blame and the only reason I can think of to why this is so goes back to an old myth.

     The myth goes that they are entrances or transitions from the profane to the sacred. I am not entirely sure what that means or why it involves me but from what I can tell its taken me from the present to the past. It sounds totally insane but the longer I think about it the more real it is for me. 

     But why me?

     I’m sure there have been many people, visitors, friends, tourists and family that has been through the same Torii gate at Kagome’s house but why did I transition. No one can give me a better answer than the person who comes walking through the door with Kaede.

     “Kagome?”

     She looks utterly surprised to see me, eyes wide and full of brown wonder.

 


	4. Chapter 3: Lady Centipede and Inuyasha

**Chapter 3: Lady Centipede and Inuyasha**

 

    We all sit around the fire with awkwardness thick in the air, each one of us has a bowl of stew in our laps but Kaede is the only one eating while Kagome and I are still as stone; bewildered by the entire situation. Kagome got here a bit similar to me; she was looking for her pet cat around her shrine’s well when she was suddenly pulled in by some ugly monster – however she managed to escape and when climbing out of the well she had somehow gotten here, where ever here is.

     When I tried explaining to her my situation she gave me a funny look as if I were just joking and waltzed her magically. It doesn’t surprise me that she acted like that, we both had it rough getting here and it’s still a strange scenario but we should be sticking together on this, right?

     Kagome has always been popular from what I heard at school and we never talked much during any of our classes but recently we were partnered together for a science project that we both had to present together. It was the reason why I went to her house to begin with.

     Together, after Kagome had arrived, we tried explaining to Kaede where we are from but she didn’t even know how to pronounce Tokyo. Matter in fact she didn’t even know what a city is. The longer we sat around the fire, watching it burn and churn while it had cooked us our meal, the more I believed the Torii myth and that this really isn’t a dream.

     “Ye are in Japan,” Kaede concludes finally, after a long pause of silence, “And in the village that has long been under my protection. For many years I have lived here and have guarded it as my sister Kikyo did before me. That was over 50 years ago. She died when I was but a child.” She takes a long hard look at Kagome, something she has been doing for the entire time Kagome has been here, Kagome and I just glance at one another.

     “Is that why you attacked us? You were guarding your village?” Kagome asks.

     “Aye, bid us no ill thoughts. Ye just…” She looks us over and lingers on our similar clothing.

     “We aren’t normal.” I reply for her.

     “Aye.”

     “But we don’t look like demons, like you said.” Kagome brings up. Probably unlike Kagome I tried to keep in mind that if this wasn’t a dream, then maybe this is a lost society that I’ve stumbled upon and to them we could very much look…I don’t know, demonic?

     Kaede frowns, closes her eye and let’s out an uncomfortable sigh. “Some demons can take on the form of anyone. We have been at war with them since before I can remember.”

     “Between you and demons? I guess we should get going soon.” Kagome mumbles half to herself; she turns to me with an uncomfortable smile and expression. 

     I don’t know what to say to her other than apologize, “I am sorry but I don’t know how to get back home.”

     “How did you get here again? You said you were shoved through the torii gate at the bottom of my shrine’s stairs?” 

     I nod in response. I could have been shoved…or even pulled but from what I can remember, no one was around me at the time I was sent through. Her eyes soften when I don’t give an answer and she returns to looking down at her stew. She must miss her family – we’ve only been here for maybe an hour but this is all so much to take in.

     “I am sorry,” I mutter again, earning back her attention. She looks surprised now at my words and I would probably be surprised too if I could feel.

     “It’s not your fault.”

     “But…”

     Suddenly, a series of thundering crashes shake the ground like an Earth quake, we all grab for support, I catch hold of the window frame at my side and as I do a warning bell clangs from somewhere nearby. An earsplitting roar bellows over the village forcing me to clamp my hands over my ears like irons but it’s too late, I can already see dots of colors obscuring my vision.

     Kaede rushes out of the hut beside me and seconds after Kagome wobbles to her feet to follow, without much of choice I do the same. Outside almost the entire village is flocking towards the crash, weapons ready and at their sides.

     “What’s going on?” Kaede yells for a response. Just as she asks a giant centipede with the upper torso of a woman towers over us all, a limp horse grasped tightly in its jaw. Blood sprinkle down upon us from the gaping puncture wounds; some trickles down the woman’s chin and over her bare nipple-less chest.

     A demon. This must be what Kaede was talking about.

     Villagers begin to shoot arrows, throw torches and even charge with swords at the demon but nothing pierces through her hide. They still try, over and over to no avail.

     The demon thrashes in response; her long body crushes innocent villagers and huts alike, all in her large wake. With a pleased hiss at the damage she caused, she flings the horse from her jaws in our direction, instinctively I rush to pull Kagome and myself out of the way and just barely remove us from where the horse lands. I look around for Kaede and see her on the opposite side safe from the fatal damage the horse would have inflicted.

     A foul order quickly reaches my nose, I cringe at the awful scent.

     “What the hell is that thing?!” Kagome screams. I’m up on my feet as swiftly as I can go and help Kagome afterwards, we both stare up at the blood covered demon.

     “Where is it? I must have the sacred jewel!” The demon bellows, my heart pulses along with her words, the demon’s blank, white eyes turn to Kagome and she steps back into me in fear. “Give it to me!”

     The demon slithers in our direction a malicious smile on its bloody lips. It leaps for her and without hesitation I grab Kagome’s shoulders and throw us out of harms way again, dodging the demon’s attack by inches. We catch our footing just as the demon comes to swing at us again with failed precision.

     “It said Sacred Jewel!” Kaede shouts, “You have the jewel!” 

     “I’m not sure…” Kagome tries to respond but she’s in too much fear, she stares up in terror at the demon so much her legs lock below her. I can’t feel fear but I know action. I have to be her saving grace right now. The centipede cackles down at us, swinging at the arrows still being shot at her. They bounce off he hide like bothersome flies.

     “I must have it! I must!” The demon cackles again. She starts to spin before us, faster and faster, until she takes on the appearance and devastating power of a massive tornado that barrels over everything and anything in its path. Villagers and buildings are left in ruins as the living still fight a pointless battle. Women and children flee the village but will they escape?

     Kagome shivers next to me, fear and disgust cover her face. How can a jewel be worth all this destruction?

    “We must lure it to the dry well!” Kaede commands the few fighting villagers left.

     “Dry well?” I ask.

     “S-she must mean the bone eater’s well, right?” Kagome stutters hysterically.

     “Aye! In the forest of Inuyasha!” Kaede reaches for a bow and quiver from a fallen villager and prepares an arrow.

     “Which way is the forest?” Kagome asks.

     Before Kaede has the chance to answer I spot a dim light glowing over the tree line to our right, my heart pulses seeing it, that’s the forest I came from – the one with the man stuck to the tree. I nudge Kagome, pointing off into the direction of the light, she must see it too because she bursts off into a sprint towards it.

     In reaction, I follow and only look back to gain the centipede’s attention, “Hey, ugly! We have your damned jewel!” It’s the only thing that comes to mind and it works. The demon freezes its torrent of destruction and narrows its sight on us. “Run, Kagome!”

     “What do you think I’m doing!” She yells.

     Without bothering to check we sprint side by side pass the rice paddies and into the first border of trees. The heavy slithering and shaking of the ground tells us we gained the demon’s full attention and is close behind. We slide down a small inlet into a shallow stream, grunting at the excess weight the water adds as we kick through, struggling to thrust ourselves into the forest on the other side.

     “We are close!” I yell over the loud slithering. I can see the light burning brighter and brighter as we near, finally passing the border of the forest but the closer we get the closer the demon does.

     Out from the corner of my eye I catch sight of one of the centipede’s arms reaching out for us. I try not to alert Kagome, I don’t want her to scream in fear but to focus on the escape. But she sees it too, and lets out a high pitch squeal that hurts my ears.

     I am at a loss, there is nothing I can do for us. I have no fear and I can’t fight this beast, but I know we need help. I need to do something. Maybe there are villagers, those very few fighting men left, following us? Maybe someone’s out there in these woods, travelers, merchants, who might help us? It’s all I have left. “Help!” I shout. “Somebody help us!”

     A surge of power bursts out in waves from my body and soul, each sending ripples through the air that pushes trees, disturbs the stream behind us and even sends the demon far enough back to give us a little extra time. I don’t care to ask what it was, how it happened or where exactly in me it came from, I just follow the wave the lads us on as it pushes bushes, branches and shrubs out from our way. The current finally blasts through the clearing and into the man on the tree where it hits him full force. Instead of pushing him or causing damage, it rebounds off of his body several times like a pulse coming to life…

     I have to narrow my eyes just to see the smallest twitch o his dog-like ears; once…twice…and then his fingers crack and his nails extend into pointed claws. Suddenly his eyes flash open with two angry amber orbs turning towards us.

     An explosion erupts at the back of our feet sending both of us twirling in the air; I flip once and land with my entire weight onto my back, shocks run through me with extreme pain. If this was a dream I wouldn’t have felt that. Kagome skids on her belly to my right making an ‘ouf’ sound.

     We both groan in pain, dizzy and in shock from the attack, we didn’t realize we are right under the man on the tree.

     “Hello, Kikyo,” a sneering voice says above us, “Why haven’t you destroyed her with a single blast, Kikyo, like you did to me.” We both look up, confused on who he’s talking to and that he is even alive to begin with. But we see no one else around us and where he’s staring is exactly at Kagome.

     “H-How are you alive?” I ask.

     “Why are you playing with second-raters, Kikyo?” He sneers again, paying no mind to my question.

     We both stare at him silently, watching him talk as if he’s all okay when there is an arrow in his chest.

     “Why so surprised? Shouldn’t be considering you’re the one that shot me!” He laughs scornfully. “Should have known I’d still be alive and kicking.”

     An ache runs along my body when I roll onto my side, it gets worse when I catch my footing, cracking my back from just standing straight.

     “I didn’t shoot you! I don’t even know how to hold a bow much less shoot one!” She shouts. 

     The ground beneath us rumbles angrily, I have to balance carefully or else I’d be on my back again. “What the hell?”

     “You look pretty dumb there, Kikyo. The Kikyo I know wouldn’t waste her time and would just kill the damned thing.” He says, seemingly enjoying Kagome’s burst of anger.

     “Kikyo this, Kikyo that!” Kagome snaps, jumping from the ground to a standing position with no problem while I am still here hurting from my back injury. “I am not this Kikyo person! My name is…”

     The demon’s ears twitch; a growl rumbles out from his chest. He looks alert, eyes searching the area. “She’s here.”

     I circle our surrounding with my eyes myself but it’s too late. The centipede drops down from the thick canopy of the tree before us cackling wildly. “Give it to me! I can sense it!” She hisses, she drops further and widens around us. Her body is massive, longer than I thought originally, it moves swiftly around us just about to close the gap between her, us and the tree when from behind us a few harpoons shoot into her body digging deep into the meat of her flesh. A group of men from the village begins to pull, tugging the demon’s body away from us.

     “Pull, pull!” They shout, encouraging one another. The demon is heavy and they struggle to get her body any further away from us.

     “You’re pathetic, Kikyo.” The dog demon scoffs, looking away from Kagome.

     Ever since I arrived here and they found Kagome its all been about her and this Kikyo person. It’s hard to concentrate when the two of them are bickering. Don’t we have bigger problems?”

     “Listen up; I am NOT Kikyo! I am Kagome. Ka-go-me.” Kagome shouts louder, blocking off the sound of the men heaving in the background.

     This is enough!

     “Stop!” I command, stomping in-between the two, “We have bigger things to worry about.” I wave a hand towards the demon who the villagers are having a harder time holding. The two pause staring at me with awe with almost silence surrounding us, at least if it weren’t for the villagers grunting and groaning and the demon hissing in retaliation in the background.

     The dog demon sniffs the air and then frowns in defeat. “You aren’t her.” He says astonished. He eyes us both with a little less anger swirling in those amber eyes than before.

     “Told you!” She retorts.

     The dog demon looks away, both annoyance and disappointment runs his cheeks pale. “Kikyo was cuter.” He whispers.

     I roll my eyes, I mean seri – my thoughts are cut off when something thick and heavy rams into my waist slamming me up and against the dog demon’s chest. My feet dangles from the height, my back aches worse than before but my heart races like the moment I first entered this clearing hours ago. There, in my chest, I can feel the tingling fighting against the pain.

     I don’t know how the demoness missed Kagome but I know she’s safely at a distance from the tree and the centipede because I can hear the demoness moving about, stretching her body around us more and more. “Give me the sacred jewel!” She demands.

     The dog demon is unbothered by the tightness that envelopes us, no, now he’s interested on what’s going on. He’s watching the scene with new surprise in his eyes that I can only figure comes from an interest for the jewel also.

     The demoness charges at Kagome, sharp fangs out and ready to grab. Kagome squeals and holds out her hands to protect herself and then, the most unusual thing happens. A purple light glows from her palms and blasts into and through the centipede, crippling the beast of all five of her arms. They drop to the forest floor with a thud where they start turning into puffs of smoke as if they are burning from the inside out.

     Kagome looks down at her hands in surprise, we all do, well…except for me. I watch in apathy as a bright pink glow starts to appear under her thin white school girl shirt, right where her left rib cage is. “What’s going on?” She asks in shock.

     “There it is! My sacred jewel!” Lady centipede hisses with glee, showing no pain to the detached limbs, she rockets forward while Kagome is distracted and pierces her with her sharp fangs right where the glowing is located. A blood curdling scream tears from Kagome’s lips, blood flows freely amidst the air. The demon thrashes her back and forth, flinging Kagome in every direction.

     The dog demon and I watch helplessly as she rag dolled around, flinching at every single one of her painful screams. And just like that Kagome is released, thrown up in the air where blood twist like a dance and a pink-purple sphere falls out from her wound.

     The only thing keeping Kagome alive from the fall was her sitting every part of the centipede’s body on the way down, slowing her decent enough for her to roll onto the grass below with the pinkish purple gem landing beside her.

     “Give me the jewel!” The dog demon barks, frantically moving against me and our captor. There is little he can do, it is like the arrow has punctured a part of his body that refrains from moving any major limb other than small twitches.

     Kagome groans in pain, her hands are planted on her open wound and is trying to hold it close as best to her ability. She is in too much pain to be coherent to protect the jewel. Now we both struggle helplessly against the centipede’s body.

     “Inuyasha – half demon spawn who is after the sacred jewel,” cackles the monster, lowering herself to just above eye level of the jewel. “At last we meet.” She tightens her hold around the dog demon and I. I grimace in pain and Inuyasha; who I am assuming in the dog demon’s name, hardly flinches.

     Half demon…I look up at Inuyasha expecting him to be in some sort of pain by now but he just smirks evilly at the centipede whose body constructs tighter around us. 

    “Don’t insult me, mistress centipede, if I wanted, our meeting would’ve been very short and your last.”

     “I need you to stop talking and fight her.” I groan with a hoarse breath. He looks down at me with surprise, his lips parting to say something but the centipede interrupts.

     “You cannot move, can you, Inuyasha?” The centipede hisses. A long, slimy tongue glides out from in-between her lips and with it she picks up the jewel and swallows it hole.

     “N-No, it’s mine!” Inuyasha yells.

     “She ate the magic gem!” Yells a man from behind me.

     “This cannot be!” I hear Kaede not too far away.

     The severed arms of the centipede rise up from the ground and like magnets, are drawn back into the demon’s body, remolding themselves to her shape. With renewed strength, she tightens her grip on us more so than before.

     I cry out when my shoulder rams into Inuyasha’s abdomens , they feel like stone against my flesh. What is he made…rock? I search frantically for an escape but my eyes keeping landing on the arrow in Inuyasha’s chest. Our eyes meet along the sight of the arrow; in the background we can hear the sound of flesh being torn apart. I force myself to glance away from Inuyasha and behind me, the centipede is shedding her human skin for a more reddish-purple hide with two large red eyes replacing what was left making her humanoid.

     “Such power! Such joy!” She cackles. 

     The centipede grips harder and harder, I can barely breathe, my vision starts to blur out.

     “Hey,” Inuyasha’s voice echoes through the dark of my mind, it sounds so good in my head…Good. I can feel that little sensation. “This arrow, can you pull it out?”

     Squinting my eyes up at the arrow, I can barely make it out from the fog surrounding my vision. I struggle to pull my arm loose and once I release it I reach for the arrow but it seems so far way. I fight. I fight to reach it.

     “Nay, child.” I hear Kaede yell, but all I feel is pain and I want release. My fingers skim over the thin wood. Almost there. “That arrow contains the spell! You must not free him!”

     “And what do you want, witch?! To become the demon’s dessert! Once her body fully accepts the jewel none of us will be able to stop her!” Their bickering becomes shadows mixed in my head with the demon’s grunting and snarling, “Well, girl?! Do you want to die here with me?!”

     No…I don’t want to die…

     My fingers wrap around the arrow and with the last of my strength I pull the arrow. Live…Live again!

     A loud whistling blasts in our ears, following it a blinding white light explodes from the arrow for several seconds until I rip it free from his chest. The arrow disintegrates into dust in my hand and for a moment, everything is still…

     Then the stillness is interrupted – Inuyasha’s whole body begins to pulsate with an awakening power that I can feel in the pits of my soul.

     Finally giving into the fog, my body slumps weak and fragile against Inuyasha, my head rolls limp on his chest that rumbles in satisfaction. His heart beats along with his chuckling that escalate from victorious to malicious cackles.

    The centipede growls, sensing that its control over Inuyasha is now waning and constricts itself as tight as he can around us and the tree. The tree cracks in several places as a result of the sheer force of her new strength, but I don’t feel the pain any longer. With a tremendous roar, Inuyasha blasts us out from the centipede’s hold, her bits of flesh flinging everywhere.

     I’m thrown out from the blast and land alongside Kagome, I take deep, heavy breaths now that I can finally breathe. Every inch of my skin tingles from having been asleep from blood restriction. Kagome is more stable now than before next t me, she looks over my entire body with hollowing eyes for any major wounds but any wounds on me would be internal.

     “Bout time!” Inuyasha leaps from his entrapment of the tree and lands gracefully crouched behind the enraged lady centipede.

     “You child!” She hisses.

     “Nasty hag!” cackles Inuyasha; he cracks his claws by just clenching his fingers and every joint along with hand and wrist follows.

     The centipede charges at him with full speed, he leaps up recklessly into the air meeting the demon’s attack halfway, he shouts, “Iron reaver soul stealer!” His claws glow burning red, he slashes through the centipede like butter, easily splitting her in half and to pieces with an erupted explosion. Limbs, bits of pieces of flesh and blood rain down upon us.

     “With a single strike!” A man says in awe.

     Inuyasha lands neatly on the ground surrounded by the mess he’s caused with a satisfied grin. He observes his work with excited eyes. “I was expecting more of a challenge.”

     A grunt comes from me when I lean up from my side; Inuyasha is looking down at Kagome and I. Her hands are still plastered to her wound, she’s pale and fatigue, blood stains her school uniform just as the centipede’s stains mine. The ground around us is a swamp of bug parts and blood, it smells like rotten flesh.

     He did this? With a single move? I would look up at him I awe if I could feel.

     A flicker of movement catches my attention from my peripherals, pieces of the deceased centipede’s body begins twitching and sliding towards the center of the mess.

     “Why is it moving?” Kagome asks.

     “Can you see a place where the flesh glows?” Kaede asks from behind us. I don’t know how or when she got here but she spooks the both of us. We both search the torn limbs with careful eyes but Kagome spots it first and points a bloodied finger in the direction where, I too, see a glowing light.

     I don’t need her saying another word; I push myself off the ground and half-crawl and half-run to the hide the jewel burns in. Without thinking I plunge my hand into the hide and tear out the jewel and just as I do the limbs all around us burst back into smoke just as they had before she swallowed it. 

     The Shikon jewel, its round sphere pinkish-purple glows brilliantly in my hand; I rub the grime off its smooth surface using my white shirt and look hard at this tiny thing that causes so much despair and destruction. In its reflection I expected to see myself but instead I see what I see every night when I sleep; a battle waging war between a single woman and a hoard of demons. My heart races at the sight, my very dream in my tiny hand.

     “You’re telling me that, that jewel that came out of me, gives powers to demons?” Kagome asks.

     “Exactly!” Inuyasha sneers, dragging me from my stupor. “So why bother keeping it? Hand over the Shikon Jewel right now and I won’t have to sharpen my claws on you.” He threatens, cracking his knuckles.


	5. Chapter 4: The Half Demon Inuyasha

**Chapter 4: The Half Demon Inuyasha**

 

     “Pay no heed to Inuyasha, child.” Kaede commands. She steps between Inuyasha and I as a barrier, “You must not let him have it.”

     All that’s left of the warriors from the village rush out of the thicket of the forest with spears and swords in hand, they surround Inuyasha. He watches them impatiently. “I’m gonna give you one last chance to willingly hand over the jewel before I slice your hands off to get it.”

     “Like hell I will.” I spout out confidently; I take a step back to close off the distance from the forest and me.

     A low growl echoes from Inuyasha’s chest. “I hate having to wait,” he pushes off his feet like a freight train towards Kaede and me. I don’t hesitate; I turn on my heels and take off full speed in a random direction, having to immediately lower my head the moment I enter the dense forest. I am keenly aware of the footsteps that follow close behind more so than the ache that takes over every inch of my body; it pounds and heats my body like fire.

     I take a swift sharp turn just in time to avoid one of Inuyasha’s attacks, I hear a tree collide with the forest floor behind me and remind myself that could have been me.

     The sound of swooshing can be heard above me, instinctively I skid and duck; Inuyasha has leaped over me and lands a good ten feet ahead of my path with a cocky smirk on his lips. My breathing comes in and out in short, painful pants and my vision is blurring again. I am doing to much too my body especially after the demon attack.

     A dozen pair of feet thunder nearby before the villagers, Kagome who can at least walk now, and Kaede comes into view. Some of the brave souls, that have arrows left, shoot at Inuyasha but they all bounce off him like they did with lady centipede but now, they shatter completely. Clearly insulted at their pathetic attacks, Inuyasha bounds forward, using his reddening claws to slice away at two trees above the warriors. Thankfully they scatter just in time before the trees would have landed on them.

     “Who do you people think I am? You think you can harm me like I did that centipede.” Scoffs the half demon; while he’s distracted slowly take a step back towards a thicker mass of forest – but freeze when I see his ears twitch in my directions. “Don’t you dare!” He growls at me, leaping in one fluid motion to land in the tree above me, I stumble back in response.

     “I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” Kaede murmurs; she pulls out a strange onyx looking necklace that has a few fang-like beads mixed in, from her robes. How’s that supposed to hel-

     “Now it’s mine!” Inuyasha says, not at all aware of the old priestess behind him. My eyes widen when I see the necklace is no longer being held but instead is floating in midair! The necklace glows brilliantly, a purplish hue as Kaede chants foreign words I’ve never heard before and just like that sparks of pink and purple lightning shoot from the clasped beads as they fly towards Inuyasha, each bead comes to reposition themselves around his neck as it had appeared before.

     “What the…” he says stunned at the sudden appearance of the necklace. He pulls and tugs at the beads with all his strength quickly getting frustrated when they don’t come off.

     “Quickly, child!” The word of subjugation!” Kaede calls out to me.

     “What word?” 

     “It matters not; your word has power to hold his spirit!” I don’t have time to mull over it; Inuyasha stops playing with the necklace and turns his attention back on me. I bolt into the thick forest.

     The world blurs around me, smearing into a mix of grays and greens as I race as quickly as I can through the forest; I hear nothing behind me, no patting of feet, no leaping through trees. Am I safe? Is he even following me now or still playing with that necklace? I slow down just enough to make out the world behind me, my eyes scorrow the scenery but I don’t see Inuyasha, just the villagers, Kagome and Kaede at a distance trying to catch up.

     The ground below me crumbles, I halt all movement but its too late, the soil breaks apart under my feet and I go siding down a very steep but luckily short cliff. I land on the cushion of my butt, the jewel tumbles out from my hand the second I land, like it has its own control, it rolls away across the rickety bridge up ahead.

     “Shit…” Ignoring the pain that shoots up my spine I crawl after the jewel, probably looking like a fool while doing it. My green skirt has to be dirt covered, my white shirt stained with blood and guts, and by morning every inch of me will be covered in bruises but all I aim for is that damned jewel.

     A shadow passes over me, sending a chill through me – I hear his malicious laughter before I see him land smoothly up ahead. The bridge doesn’t even creak at his weight. He leans down, collecting the jewel as it rolls into his palm just like that. “How can you expect to overpower me when you can’t even see where you’re going?”

     “Sit boy!” Kagome shouts from up above the cliff. Inuyasha yelps, eyes widening, the beads glow bright and somehow, with force unknown, drags him face first into the wooden boards beneath his feet with a loud bang.

     The jewel slips from his open palm and rolls right to me, again like its alive, I grab it the moment it is near.

    “I can’t believe it worked!” Kagome laughs weakly.

     I thought Kaede said my word would be the one too-

     “What the heck is this thing?!” He demands, yanking at the beads around his neck yet again. Each time he’d raise them to his chin, they glow and pull themselves down magically.

     “I’m sorry, Inuyasha, but even you lack the power to remove it,” calls out Kaede whose next to Kagome.

     Inuyasha ceases from pulling on his new collar to glare daggers up at Kaede, “We’ll see about that, you old hag! I’ll come up there and finish you off but you look half dead already!”

     Kaede closes her eyes and shakes her head. “The word please.”

     “Sit boy.” Kagome says with a smirk.

     Inuyasha lets out a high pitch yelp again just before slamming into the bridge once more. This time the bridge wobbles and cracks, I hear the faint sound of a snapping noise and quickly scoot my butt back onto land just in time for the wood to tear from the rope beneath him. He falls into the rushing water below.

     My body is throbbing from the exertion I used just within the last hour but with the last bit of strength I have left I crawl over to the edge and look down into the ravine, down below I can see Inuyasha climbing out from the river and onto a boulder. Like a dog, he shakes off the water from his body and clothes.

     I want to smile but harbor no emotions for it, instead my body freezes up and the fogginess returns to all corners of my eyes drowning me into a mist of darkness. There is no longer adrenaline coursing through me, my body knows that, it’s time to give in. I glance up at Kagome and Kaede just before my vision goes all black…

\--**

 

     I can feel strong arms holding me, they keep me warm against the cold and safe from the blackness I feel will take over me. They hold me firmly against – what feels like – a brick wall. Safe…I am safe. And I can just barely make out the voices surrounding me.

     “So, what happened to her – I get Kagome – with the wound and all but she looks fine.” The presence holding me says. The wall rumbles as he speaks, must be his chest then.

     “From the looks of it, she exerted too much energy. Mistress Centipede did also squeeze yet tightly, she was probably feeling faint before ye chased her. If I don’t get these two back to the village I don’t know what will happen.” A voice that sounded like Kaede breaks through.

     Chase me? I scramble to remember but my brain is just as fried as my body feels.

     “You humans die every day and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.” The voice above me says, its sounding more familiar the more I listen.

     “Ye do not yet understand, nor do I, the odd powers these two have or how they share a destiny with ye. Thank ye for carrying Keara, my horse can only fit two.” Kaede says.

     “Yeah, whatever.” The hold around me tightens and I slip back into the darkness.

 

\--**

 

     Through the black void I can hear the thundering padding of hammers against nails, wood being scraped and moved, horses haying and people at work – I would have mistaken it for my room in my time if it wasn’t lacking the sound of cars. But the sounds are a whole lot closer than usual, almost right at my ear if I wasn’t mistaken. There are other voices like before, all familiar and clearer; I can recognize them.

     “Now that the shikon jewel has appeared again in this world the evil beings who desire its power will soon be flocking here.” Kaede states solemnly.

     “You mean like monsters?” Kagome asks.

     How is she not in my spot? Fainted and unmoving. A light slowly comes to my eyelids warding off the bleak darkness, my entire body aches, not an inch of it is safe from injury caused by the monster from before.

     “Not only monsters, but also men, who are sometimes worse. In this Era of war and chaos, the power of the jewel of four souls can make any ambition a reality.” Kaede says.

     The jewel? My fingers struggle to feel my empty palms – it’s gone. The Shikon isn’t in my grip. Where is it? I shoot up from my laying position with newfound energy earning a startled squeal from Kagome and an alert growl from Inuyasha, who must have come with us.

     They all look at me with shock on their faces but I can only think of one thing right now, “Where is it? Where Is the jewel?” I ask almost too urgently for myself. Where did this sudden need to protect it come from? I am not even from this time period.

     “I have it,” Kagome holds up the jewel and I sign in relief; I almost felt worried there. Still…a part of me wants to snatch it from Kagome and keep it safe myself.

     I lie back down and try to think of anything but stealing, “Okay…sorry for scaring, continue on…”

     “You didn’t scare me, wench.” Inuyasha scoffs; though he was chasing me around to kill me, he’s the one sitting closest to me. If I were to reach out to him I’d be able to touch his crossed legs without a problem. Kaede and Kagome sit opposite of him across the fire pit, safe from his reach but not his quick ability.

      From where I am laying I can see the torn hole of Kagome’s shirt, its stained with her blood and underneath it, her wound has been dressed till all you can see if white bandage. She does look a little less pale and more…well…alive.

     “Inuyasha,” Kagome glares at him through the fire, “why do you want the jewel? Why would you need the power, you’re strong.” She rolls the jewel like it’s just a pretty bead, in the middle of her hand, even from this distance I can see the war brewing in the reflection.

     “He’s only half demon….”Kaede starts but doesn’t get to finish; the sound of wood splitting and cracking booms to my right. Adrenaline pumping again, I look over to see the cause only to find Inuyasha’s fist in the floor boards and an angry scowl on his face.

     “Old hag, you’ve been acting awfully familiar since we met! Do you think you know me?!”

     “Then you really don’t know?” She eyes him carefully, I see her hand twitching to her bow but she’s strong and trying to hold back, “You don’t know Kaede…the little sister of the woman who enchanted you?”

     “Kaede?” He asks, now a little interested.

     “It’s been fifty years and some of us grow old.” She tries to refresh his memory.

     He itches his head with a sharp claw, truly looking as if he’s thinking about who she could be. “You…You were that little whelp? Then Kikyo must be even more withered than you!”

      “My elder sister is dead,” she pauses and we all see the slight twitch of Inuyasha’s right eye. “The same day she put the spell on you.”

     “The little witch kicked it, eh? Well…” he lays down on his side, his head propped up by a single hand, there is a wide smile growing on his lips. “Nice to hear some good news.”

     Kagome and I both look between the two, we really have no say on this matter after all. Kaede eyes him while poking at the fire to keep it burning bright, at least she’s no longer reaching for the bow.

     “I wouldn’t start celebrating just yet. There is the matter of reincarnation. Don’t you agree, Kagome?”

     Kagome freezes in place, utter shock and confusion on her face. Okay, it seems Kagome may have a place in all this if that’s true but what about me? Why was I sent here?

     “You’re outward likeness, your mystic abilities and the Shikon Jewel hidden within your body. What other answer is there? You were born to protect that jewel.”

     Kaede glances over at me, Kagome’s and Inuyasha’s eyes follow the leader. “Ye also possess the same spiritual power but lack something deep – what did ye see when ye holds the jewel, child?”

     My eyes fall on the jewel once more, Kagome closes her hand over it, preventing me to see its reflection. An urge in me wants to get up and take it from her and I don’t know why. Am I being possessed by it or…is it that something deeper?

     “A war. A war between a single woman and endless demons; its odd, it’s the same scene I see in my dream every night since before I can remember.”

     Kaede makes a long and loud ‘hm’ noise. She closes her eye and really thinks about what I said. “It seems you may be just as connected with the jewel as Kagome, if not, more so – in some way I may really need to ponder.”

\--**

 

     I kick a rock from the trail as I venture down through the rice paddies. All Kaede could tell me was that Kagome and I need to stick together – you couldn’t find the two un-likest people to be besties to protect a sacred jewel. Kagome’s pretty and popular, probably more so in this time period than our own.

     Apparently the whole village was listening to our conversation because when we left the hut she was bombarded with people asking questions, giving gifts and even praying to her in the middle of the road. She’s some kind of celebrity here. They completely ignore me. I may have been another protector but no reincarnation.

     I shift a bag of vegetables and fruits a little higher onto my shoulder; a gift given to Kagome but she handed it off to me; she couldn’t hold all the things they were offering especially with her wound. I’d rather take the food anyways. Up ahead I see my destination, a single tree stands near the end of this trail and up on the highest branch sits Inuyasha.

     He hasn’t tried killing me since last night and from what Kaede had told me, he was the one carrying me. Plus I oddly feel safer now that he has that necklace on, though; Kagome also gained the gift of controlling him also.

     I swear if I had emotions it’d be mixed between anger, jealousy and sadness. When I’m close enough I pull out an apple from the sack and chuck it up at Inuyasha. He shifts a single hand out and catches it without so much as glimpsing. He looks over his shoulder down at me with a raised brow.

     “What’s all that food?” he asks turning more towards me.

     “Just some of the offerings the villagers gave to Kagome. Come down, you must be hungry.” I drop the sack below the branch he sits on and take a seat next to it. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate, I didn’t get time to eat that soup Kaede made the night of the attack and being stuck to a tree for fifty years must build up an appetite.

     So silently I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been already been looking, he lands next to me and takes a seat, crossing his legs and rummaging through the bag immediately.

     “Must suck,” he mumbles.

     “What?” I peer over the rice paddies ahead of us; they border most of the village that has been devastatingly damaged from yesterday. The villagers are still hard at work rebuilding and burying their fallen.

     “Being not so important.” He eyes me over the bag.

     My eyes wander down to the ground, should I be hurt right now? Angry or something? Sure, if I wasn’t apathetic I’d be hurt by it but I’m not…I just don’t understand all that’s going on yet. I shrug to his comment.

     He drops the bag in-between us and starts to eat a carrot. “Well thank you.” He grumbles out between bites, “You know for releasing me.”

     I look up at him with an expression I am sure would express surprise if I could feel it, I guess that is something Kagome doesn’t have that I do. I released a demon, I am not sure if one should be proud of that but its all I have in this world. Of course I had too otherwise I would have died but I don’t tell him that. He tried to kill me right after and this is probably the only time I’ll be seeing any sign of sensibility. I better not push it. “No problem. Thanks for carrying me back to the village.”

     “Whatever.”

\--** Nightime

 

     I have never seen Kaede’s hut so dark and eerie. The fire had gone out hours ago when we all decided to go to sleep but I can’t seem to just close my eyes and let it all consume me. Kagome and I lie next to one another next to the fire pit, using spare pillows and kimono tops as blankets. I can hear the somber snoring of Kaede but Kagome isn’t asleep either.

     She’s been rolling back and forth for about an hour now. She finally rolls towards me and I glance down at her when I notice she’s staring. “Do you miss home?” She whispers.

     I had been laying on my back staring at the ceiling the whole time thinking about the past few days and not once about home. It’s odd when she brings it up – I almost forgot about it but I don’t know how to respond to her answer. I never really had a set home, no real family. My most recent family had mention taking me back into the foster program because my counselor bills were to high. That was a week ago…I guess they don’t have to worry about it anymore.

     “I guess.” I lie.

     “How can you guess? I know I miss my family: mom, grandpa and even my brother. They must be so worried.”

     I look out the thin window that lines a single wall, the moon beams through providing at least a little light. I see a shape of a bird sitting on the sill but I can only make out its figure. Kind of looks like a crow – or maybe a raven. It’s a little big.

     “I don’t really have a home.”

     She’s silent. Maybe I shocked her. I turn my head to look at her expression and see her fast asleep. She must be tired. We didn’t sleep at all the night before.

     Tick, tick.

     I look back at the window where the sound is coming from. The bird is gone…

 

\--** Next Day

 

      The clouds are so white here…The sky so blue. It’s still hard to believe I floated down from it like a feather. The white poufs take on no particular shape but that’s okay, they are still pretty. Even the grass I’m laying on feels softer than any grass I felt before. So quiet…so peaceful…

     “Kagome! Kagome!” I hear Kaede’s voice over the rice paddies interrupting the peaceful silence.

     I had wandered from the village a half an hour ago to sit under the tree Inuyasha and I sat under the day before and they already lost her? I lean up and onto my elbows, spotting Inuyasha’s red outfit through the blur of villagers that are scattering about the village in search for her.

     He leaps over them with a single bound and lands perfectly in front of me.

     “Have you seen Kagome?”

     I shake my head and swiftly get up before he can run off on me. “Let me help find her.”

     “Fine,” he grumbles, he circles himself slowly, nose high up in the air as he sniffs for any sign of her. “Found her scent.” He growls. “Stupid girl has the damn jewel on her!”


	6. Chapter #5 The Crow Demon

**Chapter #5 The Crow Demon**

 

     This is the closest I’ve been to Inuyasha since that night with Lady Centipiede but that wasn’t by choice and I guess neither is this one. Every time he takes a leap I swear my fingers dig deeper into his shoulders, he hasn’t flinched in pain once, so I take it as I haven’t dug deep enough yet to be safe. My thighs embrace his back like iron clasps, I can practically feel every muscle of his back flexing with any and every movement he makes but nothing is pronounced as the feeling that courses through my body.

     The heavy tingling I’ve come to feel whenever I am around Inuyasha only flares this heavily when I am close to him and it’s beginning to make thinking and reacting a near impossible feat. I’ve been trying to focus on every tree top we leap from just to remember why we are here. We’ve been going like this for only a few minutes but crossed a plain of land that would take a car at least fifteen minutes.

     He’s incredibly fast, so fast that I know now that, that night he was chasing me he had to be holding back. He could have caught me in seconds, ripped me apart with his claws like paper but he didn’t. My heart races just thinking about it. He could have killed me but he must have chosen not to. He also chose not to kill Kagome so I am not that special.

     “Look!” He’s pointing out at a clearing that has a decrypted shrine-like house in the middle. Crows are everywhere, every raised up shingle to every tree top circling the abandoned clearing and they all caw while we quickly approach. “Must be a crow demon.”

     The scene brings me back to last night while Kagome and I were talking while in our makeshift beds, a single raven like bird sat on the window sill but its silhouette was all I can make out of it. This adds all together – that must have been a crow or the crow demon Inuyasha has just mentioned. “I saw a crow last night on the windowsill; at least I think it was a crow. It was pretty big.”

     “It was. I scared him away.” We break through the last bit of foliage to reach the clearing; over grown weeds, grass and vines make a new home here with the crows flying above. The building itself is littered with debris, holes and armor, probably left behind from some battle. The front doors are broken off but manage to block the entrance, not like Inuyasha couldn’t take them off with just a single had, parts of the roof are missing and conclave, there are cracks all over the walls like spider webs. It appears abandoned but we both can hear the sound of men inside, yelling and hooting.

     “I smell blood,” Inuyasha states, “It’s not hers but we have to hurry.”

     I scan the building from where I am at, eyes squinting for that familiar purple pink glow of the Shikon no tama and once I spot it I then search for the nearest reliable crack of us to break through without the building going down with us. There is a decent sized spider web crack in the middle on the left side, I point over at it. “There. I sense the jewel just beyond that wall.” That’s when I hear them. A hundred different voices whisper to me, calling and begging me to come. I look around but Inuyasha doesn’t seem to hear them. I shake them off and focus.

     “See, you are worth something. Now hold on!”

     I duck my head into his thick white hair just in time for him to ram us through the wall leaving behind a man-sized hole through the building. He lowers himself just a tad for me to step off his back. Where we are is not exact to where the jewel is but I can spot it down the hall glowing more brilliantly than before. Kagome drops down against the wall directly ahead of us, where it opens up to a much bigger room, in her hand she’s holding a spear that looks like it’s been sliced in half and stumbling in front of her is a tall bald headed bandit who has to be at least seven feet tall.

     She has no chance.

     The bandit lifts his sword, it wobbles in his grip and she closes her eyes ready for impact. Without even seeing him off, Inuyasha leaps in-between the two just in time for the sharp blade to meet Inuyasha’s arm, his red kimono sleeve somehow blocking and shattering the sword in half. The broken half of the sword falls to the ground with a loud clang as the entire room goes silent.

     I stare at Inuyasha, pretty certain myself that his robe is not made of metal and is soft to the touch so how can it? Remember Keara…this is some magically time period?

     However, the bandits in the room have also seized to remember this and an uproar begins full of “What?”’s and “How dare you?!”’

      “You…You came to save…”Kagome starts but Inuyasha interrupts by turning towards her with a deadly scowl and glaring crossing his face.

     “Where’s the Shikon Jewel?” He retorts.

     Now that the sword is out of the equation, I rush over to Kagome’s side and immediately get a waft of something nasty. It smells like death, like that Centipede lady after Inuyasha departure her. Inuyasha smells it too, he sniffs the air just once and turns his attention back to the bandit leader. I offer my hand to Kagome while the bandit leader is distracted but she just looks up at me instead with wide curious eyes.

     “You came to?”

     Really?

     “So...here you are. What a vile scent, the scent of a half decayed corpse!” Inuyasha spits out at the bandit.

     I narrow my eyes suspiciously at the bandit leader; both of his eyes are lazy and gray, blind and unseeing, he’s also unstable, moving from one foot to the other as if he can’t hold the seven foot tall fat weight. Kagome and the bandits look confused at Inuyasha’s comment but I can see beyond it….So beyond and into the bandit’s chest where the Shikon jewel glows bright.

     “There. In his chest.” I mutter to Inuyasha.

     He nods, not needing anymore information. “Show yourself – crow demon!” Cracking his right hand’s fingers, Inuyasha slashes off the bandit’s bamboo chest piece, it falls to the floor without so much as a thump and there in the middle of the man’s chest is a small hole where his heart should be. Out from the hole pops the crow’s head it’s three eyes peers at all of us and then it begins to caw and squeal loudly.

     All of the other bandits that must have been following him mindlessly gasp in surprise, Kagome squeals just like the crow in disgust. After lady centipede, this doesn’t surprise me, even if I could show emotions. Nothing surprises me anymore.

     “Been eating chest all night, eh…to make yourself a cozy little nest?” Inuyasha smirks.

     “The master…he’s dead?” One man asks, obviously not having summed it all up yet.

     “I thought he was acting a mite strange…” another replies. They are all too in shock now to attack us.

     “That’s so sick…” Kagome groans, finally taking my hand that’s been dangling pathetically next to me. She looks pale and sickly from the sight but at least she can stand without wobbling.

     Caw, caw, caw!

     “Welcome to a parasite.” I mumble. The sound is getting louder, it hurts my ears, and I even turn my head to the side to at least protect one of my ear canals.

     “Too weak to fight your own battle, or even to manipulate the living, eh?!” Inuyasha says louder than before.

     The bandit leader leans awkwardly to the side body shaking since the dead human can’t hold his weight for much longer, and picks up a sheathed katana from the ground. His limp fingers manage to grab it and with all his weight, he charges at Inuyasha.

     But Inuyasha is stronger and faster, “come out of that putrid mass!” He throws a left hook directly into the bird’s nesting hole and out he punches the crow from the other side of the bandit’s body. The mass of weight falls limp on top of Inuyasha, he heaves the body off and to the side with a loud thump.

     The crow flies high above us, it’s caws muffled now that I see it in it’s damned mouth. My heart sinks, the Shikon jewel is there in it’s pointy little mouth. When I hear Inuyasha growl I know he sees it too. How could Kagome let this happen, she was supposed to be protecting it.

     Before we can do anything, the crow flies up and out of a tiny hole in the ceiling.

     “Stop you coward!” Inuyasha yells trailing behind but not leaving the building. He searches our surroundings, his eyes stopping at a bow and quiver full of arrows. Snatching them from the floor he glares over at Kagome and me, “Come on!”

 

-**-

 

      Inuyasha manages to hold Kagome and me on his back without losing his speed, it should baffle me but I’m far too entertained with Kagome fiddling with a bow and arrow. She’s tried explaining to him that she’s never held a bow but he’s blatantly ignored her and leaped us out of the building and into the tree tops to catch speed with the crow demon high above.

     “He will NOT get away!” Inuyasha yells angrily. “Don’t just sit there, fool! Shoot it!” He glares over at Kagome.

     “Hey, that’s easy for you to say! I told you I’ve never held a bow, much less…”

     “That crow demon, he only feeds on humans. What happens if he gets stronger?” He reminds her.

      I can almost see it click on her face. I want to be mad at her. Mad that she lost the gem, mad that she’s slow but all I feel is hollow.

     I refocus on the crow, we’re close enough now to see the jewel as it sparkles, and I can see the bird panicking. It looks back at us, in spite of us, it swallows the jewel. My heart drops.

     “Inuyasha…” I mutter.

     “Fly steady!” He doesn’t hear me over Kagome’s command. She’s finally taking action for her mistake. She leans on the both of us to support her angling, lifts the bow, plants the arrow and struggles to pull the string back.

      The arrow is unsteady; it shakes against the string and her finger. She’s losing faith and Inuyasha can see it.

     “One shot girl! Kikyo was a master of the bow!” He tries in his own way to encourage.

     “I tood you, I’m Kagome!” Her eyes squint on her target, at least she’s more focused, and shoots. The arrow goes straight for the crow but there wasn’t enough strength in the shot, the arrow takes a nose dive to the ground below.

     I kind of want to laugh. Not as perfect as everyone thinks, huh, Kagome? Inuyasha looks horribly disappointed.

     “Are you SURE Kikyo was a master of the bow?!” Kagome shouts in anger.

     “I’m sure that you’re not her!” He replies just as loud.

     I roll my eyes back to the crow, the only thing is, it’s no longer a crow but a scaly monstrosity. It’s body has grown long and thin, feather wings are now bat-like flaps of meat and its beak has formed into a slit of rows of shark-like teeth.

     This is the power of the jewel…and what has come to it when a single girl watches over it…


	7. Chapter 6: Kagome’s Arrow and Return of a Piece of Soul

**Chapter 6: Kagome’s Arrow and Return of a Piece of Soul**

 

    “Inuyasha! He’s transformed!” I yell, dragging their attention from each others throats and back to the demon crow ahead of us.

     He’s doubled in size, his caws are loud and earsplitting; he swoops downward towards a village not to far off. The villagers below are clueless of what is coming their way, they live their lives scattered about with their friends and families as they carry out their every day chores.

     This doesn’t stop the demon, his many eyes search the approaching crowd for the tastiest morsel and when he finds it his clawed feet stretch outward and open. With ease he snatches a child from his mother’s grip and bats his wings back up towards the sky. The child weighs nothing compared to the demon’s new strength, and the cries of the boy are hard to hear over the cawing of the demon.

     Inuyasha curses under his breath, “I told you! That crow demon feeds on humans!”

     “No!” Kagome frowns, “You don’t mean….it’s gonna eat him….” Her grip retreats from the bow and returns to Inuyasha’s shoulder. I can only stare at her for a second dumbfounded to her ignorance.

     “The weight of the boy will slow him down.” The thought of this has Inuyasha’s lips curling into a wide grin; he even cracks his fingers loud enough to startle Kagome back to reality. I glance back to the demon and pay closer attention – we are picking up speed like Inuyasha said but just enough that with one single leap we are above him.

     “Feel my claws, buzzard!” Inuyasha’s muscles tense and stretch beneath me, his arm raises in preparation to slash but we begin to shake midair. Uncomfortable Kagome tugs on her side of the half demon’s back earning a grunt of annoyance from him.

     “No, idiot,” she shouts in his ear while pulling him to her side again, “save the boy first!”

     The sound of Inuyasha’s claws cracking again gives away he’s not listening. She lets out an angry grunt, eyes narrowed she begins to climb her legs up onto his back, planting her feet solid on his spine as she repositions herself. Her eyes dart straight down for the boy, taking one deep breath she leaps off throwing all the weight back onto my side. She wisps the boy into her arms and out of the demon’s grip with pure weight over the demon’s strength. Below is a dirt road, it’s a long fall but a survivable one.

     The demon redirects his attention for Kagome, his sharp beak of a mouth opens showing the rows of razor sharp shark teeth ready to take in its prey. Inuyasha growls, we’re shaking left to right from the sudden uneven weight making it difficult for him to aim his claws. He has no choice, if he doesn’t attack now Kagome and boy will be caught in a mouth sharp enough to break bones.

     Without much thought he swings back his left arm, claws cracking and muscles tensing, he doesn’t realize it’s the arm I am using to support myself. His claws burn red hot, I can almost feel them on my cheek, and he slices downward at the demon underneath us.

     I lose grip with his strike and when his arm swings forward my body is slung off. Wind swooshes pass my head and all I see is sky as I fall back first to the world below. The closer I come the more the sound of wind changes to the sound of streaming water. A silent scream leaves my lips, my guts clench and twist, I reach for Inuyasha.

     The last thing I see before colliding with the river is Inuyasha reaching back.

     Cold water swallows me whole and shows no mercy with its terrible rapids. My body is torn this way and that, rolling me with its currents like a feather during a typhoon. I reach outward in attempt to grab anything to gain control but all I feel is rocks, pebbles and dirt of the river bottom. Nothing is large or strong enough to hold onto. I am losing air quickly.

     My body slows abruptly, the water calms. A few feet above me is the surface, I can see the blue sky and the crow demon escaping with Inuyasha nowhere in sight. It’s too late. We’ve lost the jewel. All the fight we’ve put up with so far is gone just like that and now here I am losing air with a current that won’t even let me reach up for my life.

     I don’t know why I was dropped here during this time period or what my purpose in life was or why I even lack emotions and can’t even feel fear for my life or happiness or sadness. I never got to experience a life with a family or found a real home and this is how I am going to die? Drowned in a river in the middle of nowhere watching as a single demon stole what could have been all my answers.

     Parts of me want to give in and others want to fight. Up above in the sky something thin zips pass my sight trailing a purple light behind it, it pierces into the escaping demon and when it does a bright white light explodes from the impact shattering hundreds of sparkling beams of light outward. A gigantic ray blasts from the explosion and plummets down towards me and as it does the river water separates from the impact and I fall back first onto the river bed. Not a second later does the light cover my body entirely – every inch of my flesh heats up, it warms and ignites every hollow edge I had within me – I am fitted with a tickling tingling feeling and filled to the brim.

     My heart beats loud and clear, waves whoosh off my body for what seems like a few minutes when I am sure it’s only a few seconds. And now…

     I can feel…Heavy in heart and full inside…I can feel and I feel renewed.

     The light dissipates within my skin, being sucked up like a sponge and when the light is all gone the water is set free, crashing hard back against my body and throwing me further downstream with a stronger ripping force than before.

     I feel fear…My stomach is kicked and slammed from the currents, my oxygen depletes faster than before and my heart races, I look around for an escape, I want to cry suddenly. I am …afraid. I can feel…being scared…

     I tumble through the current, scraping along the bottom like a tumble weed, and then my back hits against something large and hard. I see my last few air bubbles leave my lips and float to the surface…everything goes black.

 

-Inuyasha POV-

 

     I can’t believe it happened. I don’t want to believe it. This pathetic human girl who couldn’t even shoot an arrow shattered the jewel! I growl loud enough it echoes throughout the forest.

     I sniff the air again but still nothing. I was so sure she wouldn’t be that far away but the current must have really dragged her away. When she fell I thought…no, I really believed I would have been able to catch her but the river’s current got her before I could. The water was murky, I couldn’t find her and then Kagome shot that damned arrow and shattered the jewel into hundreds of pieces.

     But something else happened…Something I never saw before.

     An aura of light came down during the shattering, separated the water where Keara was and just like that, her body was swallowed within the light. It seeped into her skin. It lit her up. It made her shine. And she was gone again, buried beneath the shallows of the river. I lost all sight of her and even her scent was vanished in thin air.

     I took Kagome back to Kaede after we searched a little but all we found was the remnants of the crow demon’s head with a single shard stuck under his flesh. It killed me inside. Now I am stuck with Kagome and Keara….Where ever she is.

     When it got dark I took Kagome back to Kaede’s village and told her I was better off finding Keara alone. Personally I wanted to escape the core of my anger and look for her alone.

     I searched all night and now with the sun rising I am slowly losing hope. I just can’t find her scent, it’s like she just disappeared. If Kagome had just stayed still I wouldn’t have lost balance…Keara wouldn’t have fallen.  
     “Keara!” I shout for the hundredth time tonight. Only the sound of the river and the crickets return to me. Damn it!

     She was the only non-irritating one. Kagome – with her damn likeness to Kikyo and Kaede with her knowing everything. Keara was calm. She let me have my moments within the short time we got to spend with each other and she sure as hell didn’t break the Shikon Jewel!

     “Keara! Where are you, you wretched girl?!”

 

-Keara’s POV-

 

      The war is still on-going. When will it end? The single woman amongst the crowd of demons doesn’t look the least bit tired but I still want to help…I want to stop this war. I reach out to the woman but I am so far away, always out of reach.

     “Keara…” A woman’s voice rings through the battle.

     I circle about in search of the producer of the voice but there is only a single woman here besides me. My eyes turn back to the priestess within the center of the demons. Her pair of brown eyes turns toward me, long lashes unbothered by the war. How long has she been fighting for this to be normal?

     “You must find all the shards…Protect them.” She says as clear as day over the entire ruckus the demons make. “Every shard will return a piece of you.” She holds off a hoard of demons, slashing down a long blade before they disperse into thin air and out of the blue more demons appear to continue her fight. “You are the only one whose truly connected with….”

     “Keara!” Another voice breaks through the battlement. This one is familiar.

     Inuyasha….

     The woman fades from my vision, shifting into a dreary light, but not before she turns her eyes to me in full and whispers. I can’t hear her this time; all sound is drowned out by rushing water that laps at my swollen, bruised legs. The sting of cuts is prominent over all of my skin. It’s almost too painful. I open my eyes, everything is blurry, the scenery phases in and out until it sets still and I can make out the dense forest surrounding me.

     I’m flat on my belly lying half in the river shallows and half on land. My body is beaten and I feel like I’ve battled the river for a week. All I remember was a bright light swallowing me up …or did my body swallow it? Either way a light was involved…and then that darkness.

     “Keara!” Inuyasha calls again.

     I can’t tell how far away he is, my ears throb making sounds phase on and off like a pounding drum. My mouth opens to respond and the cold air cracks my throat the moment I do. “In…Inuyasha.” I croak. I swallow, it burns. It was barely a whisper.

     I drag my arms to me and they shiver and shake beneath my weight. I have to fight this if I want to be found. “Inu…Inuyasha.” I repeat . My arms struggle like pathetic twigs against the wind but I fight to push my upper half up. I am covered in mud, I am damp and I hurt. I hurt bad. My legs aren’t responding to the rest of my body. “Help…”

      A wave pulsates from my body like the night with Lady Centipede but this wave doesn’t push away branches or rustle the trees, it just spreads outward through the area. I watch it with a weak smile somehow feeling a bit safer now that it has left me. I never did find out what that was.

     Safe…Secure. Never knew that feeling until now. It’s a warm, embracing feeling that envelopes more than just the body but all that’s within it. To feel it….is remarkable. That light, I remember now, I could only feel after it sucked into me.

     “Keara?” His voice is so close it’s practically in my ear. I drop my head to the side and there he is, on one knee and looking over my damaged body. That wave must have got his attention somehow. “Are you okay?”

     Taking a quick glance over my own body, there isn’t a part of me not cut or bruised or covered in mud. I look back up at him and give him a ‘really?’ expression.

     He scowls and frowns. “Your scent has changed.” Gently he grabs my left arm and helps me up, my legs are unresponsive and don’t hold my weight but he’s oddly patient. I grip onto his shirt and we both wait for my legs to finally regain some strength.

     “What happened?” I ask, the pieces are not adding together fully yet and my mind feels like a big jigsaw puzzle whose color is just a shade of black.

     “Kagome broke the Shikon Jewel.”

      My breath hitches in my throat…”..W…What? S-she?” The last images I remember seeing: the burst of light, the crow demon, it all makes sense now. And god damn I am fucking angry. Hear rises up my spine, spills into my stomach and acts like venom in my veins. Red colors everything. “I…”

     “I’m angry about it too.”

     My fists twist into Inuyasha’s Kimono tightly I can feel my body shaking in rage. I want to scream, throw my arms and about and break things. I want to go where she is and smack her so hard across the damn face. We almost died twice over this Jewel; the one damn thing she was trusted with!

     “How do you do it?” I ask through gritted teeth.

     A look of surprise crosses his face, his amber eyes look at the tiny fists in his kimono, “Do what?”

     “Control your anger?” My entire being is pulsating.

     He relaxes under my grip but still looks a little confused. Kaede must have explained to him at one moment or another about my emotion-less nature and now I am suddenly feeling up a storm. I don’t even have an answer as to why to give him either.

     “We need to get you to Kaede before you burst a vein.”

 

\--**

 

      The river took me far from Kaede’s village and damaged my body so bad that I was taking too long to walk for Inuyasha. He began carrying me after ten minutes of waiting. I was surprised to find my entire body wasn’t one big bruise when I cleaned myself off in the river, it’s a compilation of minor cuts, scrapes and bruises but nothing compared to what I should be.

      I should be dead.

     This also surprised Inuyasha, given I don’t even have a brain injury that we have noticed. There is also no damage done to my back where I had struck before fainting. I managed to come out unscaved and even less so…after that light took me.

     Off in the distance we can see Kaede’s village, the rice fields glisten from the sun and it’s beautiful. Inuyasha’s forest is calm and still, a little too quiet if you are to ask me. No insects or animals, not even the wind makes any noise at all. When we come closer I’m thrown off by the lack of villagers walking about. The very few I can see appear to be hanging inches off the ground.

     A chill runs down my spine.

     “Something’s not right.” Inuyasha mutters.

     I nod. I can feel it too.

     A glimmer catches my eye, it sparkles above the villagers here and there and the closer we come the more I notice what it is and how…out of place. The few villagers that are hanging are all women and they dangle strangely from thin strings that I am sure couldn’t hold their weight unless…it’s inhuman.

     With only a few feet between us and the hanging woman we can see now that their eyes are hollow and lack pupils. They twist and turn mid air towards us revealing the knives and farming scythes in their hands. Inuyasha’s grip on me tightens and we both stiffen up when they all face our direction.

     “What…” I begin but I am cut off. All at once the women of the village spring at us with their weapons raised high and ready to swing. Inuyasha twists us and leaps out of reach just in time to miss the first wave of women. He gently places me down just as another wave comes speeding our way.

     “Do not injure them!” Shouts Kaede.

     We spot her crawling out of a hut to our right, her right shoulder is sliced open and blood is trailing behind her. Her warning doesn’t help us in this situation.

     Inuyasha takes a hold of each rushing woman as they come and drops them down to the ground, as he does I see the tear from the string and it’s host, the girls fall limp and unconscious once the connection is lost. I don’t think Inuyasha can see it, he blindly throws them around without even a blink of an eye.

     I take this chance to stand and stumble pathetically over to Kaede, Inuyasha follows close behind watching my back and protecting me from the group of flying women.

     “Kaede, you witch, what are you up to, all drenched in blood?” Inuyasha comments over his shoulder.

     “As tactful as ever, I see…” She glares up at him.

     Swoosh…Swoosh…

     I glance back over at the fallen girls, new strings connect themselves to the girl’s necks, they rise again. Like puppets.

     “Why are they after us?” Inuyasha growls out.

     “They are all under the power of someone or something.” Kaede replies.

     “Strings.” They both look at me in confusion. “There are strings controlling them.” I point up at the strings attached to the girls that are flying towards us now.

     “You can see them?” Kaede asks.

     I just nod.

     “I can take care of this.” Inuyasha states, with the brief second before the next wave comes he cracks his fingers and readies himself to make a more permanent end for the approaching woman.

     “No! We need Kagome! She has the Jewel!”

     I snap a glare back down at Kaede. Really? You gave her the jewel and lost her again! I bite my lip to reframe from screaming at her.

     “Hear me now. The village girls are not in their right minds and so do not deserve your claws!” Kaede continues.

     “Spare me your higher morality, Kaede! Didn’t they almost kill you?” Inuyasha scowls.

     “You understand nothing…hear me, Inuyasha, unless you defeat the one who manipulates them from the shadows…”Kaede begins. A single woman is drawn out from the wave and comes jetting in faster than the others, she lifts up a farmers axe, like a doll being flung through the air, she swoops down towards Inuyasha.

     A glistening hits my eyes from the woman’s wrist, the string is tight, “There! Cut the hair attached to the girls wrist!”

     “What hair?! I don’t see any hair!” He exclaims balling his hands into fists.

     She comes at him from the side too quickly, his claws can easily miss his target, at the corn er of my eyes I see two other girls raise and plunge at him but these two are weaponless. He’s not prepared to battle the three of them and glance around to see who to attack first.

     But instead of charging at him as an attack they encircle his body swiftly, a web of strings entangle his body, capturing him and holding his limbs together. The woman with the axe, now close and personal, aims for his head – he breaks free with the flex of his body and leaps out the way just in time to avoid the attack.

     He pulls back away from the other fallen villages, he may has escaped but I can see his arms and legs are still covered with near invisible strings. He growls in irritation. “Is this puppeteer a fool? Even if I can’t see the hair I can drag out whoever’s at the other end!” Feeling about his body he grabs the tiny threads, gathering them up and using all his strength, he tugs the strings downward.

     Kaede and I look about expecting to spot the culprit causing all this hassle but instead the thread grows and loosens. The hair begins to surround him again. I start to stumble towards him, if he can’t see it but I can, I can be of some help but before I can go anywhere Kaede grabs my ankle.

     “Do not, the hair may not harm Inuyasha but it will slice ye.”

     So I am useless?

     Inuyasha groans, I look back to see him being lifted by the hairs and swung against a tree. While there the hairs tighten, threatening to tear him apart.

     I want to help. I need to help. But if what Kaede says is true I’ll cause more of a mess than relieve it.

     Inuyasha roars, the sound of cracking follows. The tree Inuyasha is held against is cut into perfect batches where the string has sliced through. He expands his body yet again and rips out from the hairs with a leap but this time, he lands next to us. His neck is pink where the hairs had touched flesh but not a grip of blood comes off of him.

     “I looked death in the eye for a moment there.” He glides his fingers over the pink of his neck.

     Shuffle…Shuffle…Shuffle…

     We look behind us at the thicket of the village and see the missing men of the village coming our way. Their eyes are just as hollow, they are carrying larger weapons like pikes and katanas but they are much slower than the woman and are not hanging from threads. They just look possessed.

     “A new crew. We won’t make any progress at this rate. We have to leave. Keara, help me get Kaede onto my back. Be quick.”

     He doesn’t need to say it twice, he leans down low enough for her to reach and I help her climb on with careful pushes. There isn’t enough room for two people on his back with Kaede there, and I’d probably hold them up anyhow. I glance around at the women and the men. The women are the quickest, I can out run the men and escape the women by heading for the woods. The strings will get tangled in the trees.

     “Just go without me, I’ll follow behind.”

     “You’re not fast enough, plus you’re still weak from earlier.” He argues.

     The men are approaching quicker now. We don’t have time to argue and I have confidence in my escape plan.

     “Just go. I can see the hairs coming. Take Kaede to safety and find the jewel. I’ll be able to sense where you are by the Shikon shard.”

     He eyes me, the ambers orbs are almost soft and gentle, I can see it – he knows I’m right but is too stubborn to admit it. “Stay alive, wench.” He hesitates briefly for a second before shooting off into the tree line. From here I can see the strands of hair breaking and falling, losing connection to their puppets while he carelessly leaps onward towards Inuyasha’s forest.

     The men groan behind me like zombies, they wobble closer and closer, with Inuyasha’s leave and the cutting of the strings some of the women came tumbling down. I can’t risk standing around here. Focusing all my emotions on gathering strength to run I burst as quickly as I can into the forest line and follow the trail of broken strings.

 

 


	8. Chapter 7: More than just your average girl

**Chapter 7: More than just your average girl**

 

     The forest thickens as the shadows of nightfall drape around me, every corner is consumed by this darkness making it impossible for me to follow the trail of broken thread. With the village men far behind me, their moans and groans drowned out by complete silence, I can solely focus on the heart beat - like throb of my skin. Every bruise and scrape comes alive and reminds me of the last few days that have been the most brutal out of my entire life. It's hard not to believe that this place is real now with so much physical pain telling me that I am most definitely not asleep.

     Before today, this pain would be no more than a faint echo on my flesh telling me that it thrives but now that the emptiness within me is gone, the world is clearer - sharp and in focus. I can even feel the slightest difference in the temperature from one area to the next but most of all, I can feel the the cool breeze as it plummets through my nose down into my body filling my lungs full of chilling air. I shiver.

     That's not all that's different. No. The most unique difference I have noticed is the sharpness of my mind. It feels unlocked, as if someone took tiny little gold keys and unbolted parts of the brain that weren't meant to be unlocked before - to the point where I feel I've read a pile of books and gained all their endless knowledge within the few seconds that beam had hit me.

     I don't think I am the smartest person alive but I sure do feel ...unlocked...in some small way.

     "Keara, Inuyasha!" Kaede yells. Her frail, old voice is croaking and it's loud and clear.

     She's close by. I quicken my speed and narrow my eyes in false hope they'll be able to focus on the smaller surroundings just in case I might have missed something. "Kaede?" I begin, "Where are you..." Right as the words leave me my foot hitches onto a mound of dirt, I stumble forward pathetically waving my arms about to catch myself. By chance my right hand grips onto a layer of bark from a tree next to me and I keep myself from plummeting into the ground below.

     "Right here." She speaks again. This time she's behind me, low to the ground. I look over my shoulder down to the mound that tripped me to see that she is the very mound I fell upon. She's a hill beneath a blanket of dirt and dry leaves, her head the only limb that's not covered, lies on a pillow of fresh green leaves.

     You got to be joking. Out of all places he could have taken her or put her, he buried her? That can't be good for her wound.

     "Inuyasha is searching for Kagome." She breaks my distraction.

     An immediate anger washes over me. And I bet to hell she has the damn jewel. Lost again. Again! I glance around in a full circle in search for any sign of the jewel but I come up empty handed. I get the whole, 'She's a protector' deal but she's not at all good at it. So why is she so damn important and trusted with it? Every single day we've been here.

     Every. Damn. Day. She's lost it. And even broke it!

     I grit my teeth painfully but I can't seem to stop. My hands curl into fists, red begins to take over the edges of every object around me. I want to scream again. I want to pumble her into dust. She's not taking any of this seriously! And yet the villagers think she's some kind of god!

     "I see." Kaede replies to my silent rant, I look down at her in bit of surprise. "Ye have finally found a piece of ye's soul."

     Just like that, my anger drains out of me and sinks into the earth below. I furrow my brows in confusion. Not quite understanding what she means.

     "Ye lacked something. An empty vessel wandering aimlessly without any emotion. Ye must have missed your soul but ye still lacks all of it." She continues.

     The events from earlier replays fresh in my mind: the jewel shattering, the beam of lights it released, how one dived bombed into my body and how my flesh sucked it up like it was dehydrated - only then did I begin to feel. Is that what she means? That light from the jewel, is my soul? Or apart of it.

     Is that even possible, and how? Am I really questioning this - I am in feudal japan due to a Tori gate after all.

     "Ye plays a bigger role in this destiny than ye knows. Kagome and Inuyasha can search for the jewels but ye needs them. Once the jewel is complete only then will ye be complete. The breaking was only the beginning. I do not know why or how, but ye are more connected to the Shikon no Tama than even my sister Kikyo."

     Shivers run through me. A mixture of excitement and doubt hits me. I remember the moment the Jewel itself called out to me. It called for help. It called my name for help. I don't think Inuyasha heard it...and if he did he didn't respond to it. "Well...It did call out to me earlier just before it was taken and broken." Just remembering those hundred of voices fresh in my mind makes me feel little guilty. I thought if I mentioned this before that I would be seen as one of the monsters that wanted it to myself.

     At the same time. I didn't feel as if I wanted to possess it. I wanted to protect it.

     "A connection so deep its spiritual."

     That's it! A connection - that's what that woman from my dream said. I'm connected but her lips didn't spell out spiritually. "Connected with my soul..." It's the only thing that makes sense. I've gained a part of my soul from the shattering and now my other parts must be with the other pieces.

     "I can tell with your eyes. Your eyes are no longer empty."

     So even if I did want to go back to the present I couldn't until I find all those pieces otherwise I'd go back not myself. Not like I was myself before...Not like anyone in the present is waiting for me either.

     My heart starts to race, a tingling rushes through me, I hear an almost silent murmuring from my distant right. I can't make out the words. Kaede doesn't seem to hear it. She peers up at me with a stern look. Maybe it's the jewel like before...

     I lift my head up high and hold my breath: listening. Only deadly silence. Not even the song of crickets or patting of the breeze on the tree branches.

     "It's calling for ye." Kaede notices, "Kagome can protect it, ye are apart of it. It can seek ye, ye can seek it."

     I ignore her comment about Kagome, no longer needing the anger to control my mood and continue to concentrate on the murmuring. I close my eyes and empty my mind. Silence and darkness. Focus. Focus...The image of the jewel and the woman trapped inside starts to circulate.

     "Help." The word is ghostly, like a whisper in my ear from an invincible source whose not strong enough to call out loud. "Help!" It defines itself, blasting like a microphone now.

     My eyes shoot open, just like that the darkness around me is highlighted with a faint glow. I can see the shapes of trees and bushes - and there off in the far distance glowing through the thicket of the woods is a purplish light. It shines and sparkles, its small but bright. It's my green light.

     There is no pausing this now. I burst full speed in the direction of the purple light and ignore the pain that follows.

\-----

 

     There they are! Just beyond the treeline is a sight I would have never imagined - a scene full of hair.

     In the middle of an open dirt field hangs a massive ball of black hair, its held up by thick streams of tight black tresses that clutch at the trees in the distance, somehow managing to stand straight and strong beneath the heavy weight.

     High off the ground, on a fine wiry string of black hair that can't be any thicker than one strand of my own, stands on her tipsy toes a thin pale woman. She wears an revealing black dress that hikes up her mid thighs and exposes the entirety of her cleavage. Purple eyes gleam spitefully down at a hurt Inuyasha, blood stains his white under shirt, it leaks and leaks but he's defenseless - his wrists and ankles are strung tight as he dangles far off the ground.

     "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouts from ahead of me. I can spot her now that I've entered the field, she's wearing Inuyasha's red Kimono over her head and shoulders, a bow and quiver lie a few feet away from her. She looks confused and lost, unsure what to do with our strongest member of our group at the clutches of a female demon.

     The most she could do is try something! Even with a piece of soul returned to me, I know when to take action and when to be afraid.

     The woman smiles, her tiny red lips a mere crescent on her white face, her eyes glisten with excitement. She brings up her own blade - a medium sized tachi - to her lips and licks the entire length of the blade seductively. She lets out a little giggle, "I'll make you into sushi." She puns. Like a dancer she leans forward elegantly, both arms lifting to her sides as she drops down towards Inuyasha with the blade aiming down at Inuyasha's chest.

      No you don't! My heart skips a beat and adrenaline pumps through my veins. I can feel it like a venom as it fuels me. I skid to Kagome's side snatching the bow so quick Kagome couldn't keep up as I string an arrow faster than I expected myself. I hear Kagome whisper my name at my side but I choose to ignore her existence and focus my anger and strength on my shot. I free the arrow right where I expect her body to drop and hold my breath as the tail of the arrow flicks the arc of the bow.

     The sound of whistling fills our impatient ears; the arrow skims across the woman's upper chest, marring her perfectly plump breasts only enough to cause a tiny stream of blood to trail down their sides. Not a direction hit but it causes her to pause mid air. With amazing acrobatic skills she leaps back up to her perch from before. She glances down at us in surprise, not at all showing any pain from my attack.

     I respond by grabbing another arrow and stringing it tight. "Let him go!" I order, narrowing my eyes, and the more I do so, more adrenaline rushes through me, igniting a fire I've never felt before. A confidence. "Or the next one will leave a permanent hole!"

     "Who ARE you?" She pronounces.

     Kagome finally takes a stand, her tiny hands coil to fists at her sides, "You heard her!"

     "I think they want you back, Inuyasha! What a sweet widdle doggie you must be."

     "Keara, get Kagome and hide!" Inuyasha snaps.

     But my arrow doesn't falter, I keep aim and steady. Unafraid and sure of myself. I wasn't dropped here to this world to run away.

     "Shoot her, Keara." Kagome demands.

     The more the commands are being shouted at me the harder it is getting to hold the string. My right arm starts to shake and it has me wary. What if I can't hit her now? I was surprised that I got so close with my last shot since this is the first time I've ever handled a bow.

     "Shoot!" Kagome's scream is right in my ear, startling me so much my fingers release the arrow with a pathetic turn of the bow. The arrow pierces through the sky right for Inuyasha's upper back.

     He let's out a grunt, using all this strength just to heave himself mid air in a random direction just to duck out of the way but he does it just in time for the arrow to barely miss him. After it passes his head it takes a sudden nose dive straight into the middle of the massive hair ball.

     "Hey! Watch where you're shooting!" Inuyasha growls, I snap an angry glare at Kagome who freezes under my sight.

     A sharp, loud whistling interrupts us, we all turn our attention back to the arrow, out from where it landed a purplish light streams from the puncture it inflicted. The light grows and grows like the blast from the Shikon Jewel when it broke and as it does so, the circle widens literally melting away the hair and unleashing countless waves of black locks decorated with skinless skulls.

     The smell of death fills the air, Kagome and I both begin to cough from the sudden intrusion of our lungs.

     "Oh no!" The woman yells. She runs her fingers down her face dramatically, "What have you done?!"

     The skulls look familiar, freshly scraped free of the burden of flesh, the only remnants left is the hair that is still attached to the scalp. The hair runs long and twines itself within the much larger lock of black tresses. That's when I notice it, I know those skulls somehow.

     "Those guys...We saw them in the village." Inuyasha points out before I can. Kagome looks at the both of us, her eyes slowly widening in sickening horror.

     If the demon is freaking out from just that little exposed hole, then the hair ball must be her power source - her domain. The ball of hair is huge - there could be a considerably large amount of dead bodies inside. The more we destroy it, the chances we have to destroy her.

     "I'll be putting you in here too," she looks back at Inuyasha with a simple smile, "But first those humans have to die!"

     With the twist of her left wrist a small oriental red comb appears in her hand. It's the kind I've seen geisha's use in my history books, its so tiny that I can't imagine it gives off an dangerous vibe - that is - until she swings it towards us.

     Four lines of fire rain down towards us, with left or right being my only escape, I leap to the side dropping the bow as I go. When the fire hits I look over my shoulder; Kagome didn't budge, the fire takes over her and the entire area surrounding her but she doesn't burn. She collapses to her knees before curling up into a little ball safely under Inuyasha's red Kimono. Her face is tense but I can see she's not at all harmed and I don't know how the kimono is doing it.

     The demoness doesn't seem to notice this though, and instead let's out a sweet giggle of pleasure. She may have not caught us both but she caught one. The fire breathes on and on the longer the woman watches - I don't know how strong Inuyasha's kimono is but I have to do something before she runs out of time!

     "Now for you!" The demoness turns her attention on me. I'm quick to stand back up and glare at her head on; I'm not afraid of a ball of hair or the bitch who spits it out. She lifts her comb immediately, my right foot moves back in readiness to bolt.

     She grins.

     I hold my breath.

"Blades of Blood!" Inuyasha punctures his chest wound without so much as a flinch of pain and then swings his bloody hand at the demoness releasing bloody claw-like blades in a row of four. One blades catches her right wrist, the hand that holds the blade, and cuts it off like butter. She doesn't wince, not even a sound of pain. No, instead, she looks bewildered that she didn't see it coming.

     For a split second the hairs holding Inuyasha loosen but for not long, they tighten back up once she notices she's been hit. Off in the distance, her hand dangles from a few strands of hair with the blade still tight in its grip.

     Inuyasha glances at me, I catch a glimpse of them skipping to the forest. He's telling me to run. He knew his attack wouldn't kill her but it did gain her attention. He looks away from me as quick as he glance and back up at the demon.

     "Serves ya right!" He shouts.

     "I do wish you'd use some restraint when addressing a lady, were you brought up in a doghouse?" A rhythm of clanking noises comes from the mouths of the skulls. Really, are they laughing?

     The demon places the red comb in her mouth and then lifts her left hand up towards Inuyasha, along with the movement the skulls fly up out from the hair and directly at him like flying missiles. He's quick to break each approaching skull with a quick twist and turn of his wrists.

     Now's my chance!

     I search for the best route to help. Obviously she's not getting hurt physically. I search the length of the hair and hair ball, seeing nothing but endless black and skulls...wait...

     In the abyss of grey and tan skulls I spot an unusual color to be mixed in. I spot a red skull hanging half way up the stream of hair that drapes down to the ground from the arrow that melted it away.

     "That must be it..." I whisper to myself. I take a quick look over my shoulder at Kagome; the fire has faded completely now with the demon's attention elsewhere but she's still curled up and shivering in fear. Making absolutely no move to help.

     Some protector.

     I burst full speed for the stream of hair and skulls, behind me are the sound of Inuyasha and the demon fighting it out, after the cracking of skulls mix the noises of clashing and roaring with the occasional grunt of pain from Inuyasha and the snappy comments of the demon. I keep myself from looking back, I know at any moment the demon can turn and see me heading for her precious hair. I have to end this.

     When I am close enough I leap as high as I can at the river of hair, clutching with both hands onto the silky, almost oily and sickening smelling hair. I try not to vomit immediately. It's death and bad greasy hair smell mixed together and right up near my nose.

     Concentrate.

     I look up, spot the skull, hold my breath and begin my slippery tread up the hair as swiftly as I can.

     The sounds of a body dropping to the ground following the sound of flesh being torn reaches my ears. I bite my lip, forcing myself not to look back but panic rises in my stomach. I'm half way there...

     The hair beneath me starts to shake back and forth, my grip tightens but I still manage to slip a few feet down because of the oiliness. I look over my shoulder and meet the demon's eyes glaring up at me. They are purplish pink and furious. I guess I didn't notice their full color before. But what I do see is her right hand is back attached to her wrist and a fist sized hole is in her is in her chest.

     "You shouldn't have looked away!" Inuyasha yells, he has her blade - I don't know how but he does- with both hands the hilt he slashes down her turned back cutting right through her.

     No blood spills. She doesn't fall limp like a normal person does. No. A river of hair passes along her wound and like that her body is repaired as if it never happened to begin with.

     She's angry now. Her face is twisted and tight. She slowly turns to Inuyasha with gritting teeth. "All right..." Swinging her left hand up with five strings attached at each end of her fingers she prepares another attack we haven't seen before.

     Inuyasha is already wounded, there is blood dripping on the front of his shirt that I can see. He needs help. I need to help him. Kagome is useless, afraid and scared - still curled up. With Inuyasha still kind of trapped by the hair, he can't do much.

     I grab the nearest thing I can throw; a skull with a broken jaw, and tear it from its nest of hair. With one hand holding all my weight I use the other to chuck the skull at her head.

     -Thunk!-

     The skull smashes and breaks against the back of her head. She freezes still. All her muscles tighten and shake.

     She's pissed.

     "Inuyasha! Destroy the red skull!" I point up at the only miscolored object in the mass of black, gray and neutral browns.

     He struggles from side to side trying to see pass the hairess, "what red skull?!"

     The demon growls much louder than before and then leaps down for me. Instinct has me start climbing again, I'll be damned to fall without a fight.

     "Hey! No you don't!" Inuyasha yells; behind me I can hear the tearing of hair but I refuse to look back again, the hair I hold onto begins to shake and rife to life, this time it engulfs my legs. I can feel it trying to drag me down, pull me off - I kick through but its getting harder and harder to climb.

     From my peripherals I spot her, she somehow managed to get her sword back from Inuyasha and is now charging her way towards me with it aimed for my head. "Stop pulling my hair!" She screams.

     Without thinking I release my hold on the hair to block my head with my hands, I plummet down to the world below, the wind embraces me with force until suddenly I come to an abrupt stop. My wrists are torn from my head and are tied up above me with thick lengths of greasy hair.

     "Why don't you give up?!" She lands elegantly on a thin string a couple of feet in front of me. Her mask of anger is covered by a random thrill of excitement. She knows there is no way for me to defend myself and relishes in it. I'm stretched wide open with no armor to protect me. "We will see how much more fight you have in you while I slice you bit to bit!"

     She whisks her left hand up into the air, following her movement drapes a thin thread of hair - that is nearly impossible to see if it didn't glisten from the moonlight - it circles my head leaving me feeling defenseless as it drapes down onto my shoulders.

     It's loose at first and then as she snaps her fingers towards herself it tightens sharply. A pain strangles my throat only best described as a paper cut that encircles it entirely. It squeezes and squeezes, I try to fight against the hold by flexing my neck muscles but it doesn't work. The seconds pass slowly, my throat closes and I start to lose air, I breathe deep and slow but I can't fight it.

     The world begins to spin.

     "Blades of Blood!"

      Bloody red blades fly through the demon, and this time, every single blade hits their target. The demon is sliced this way and that, detaching the connection of her with the hair. The string around my neck loosen and I take in the deepest breath of air I can. The locks around my wrists release and I begin to fall again.

     I relax against the pressure of the wind this time, my eyes closing and I wait for the impact of the earth below. But seconds pass and no collision occurs, I reopen my eyes to find myself no longer falling but instead within Inuyasha's arms. They tighten just then, securing me against his chest as his amber eyes examine my throat.

     He lands us gently on the ground with absolutely no thump and I see around us, the hair begins to fall like tidal waves and skulls drop to the ground, breaking and shattering like hail. He helps me stand on my own again.

     This is it! Her world is being destroyed and she has little to no defense. She can't escape Inuyasha's attacks now that he's free and her main power source, the great ball of hair, has been broken. All connections are loose. We can win now.

     Inuyasha's entire body tenses next to me, his muscles tighten and he dives in front of my body and as he does so a loud groan of pain leaves his lips. Coming from his back and through his chest specks of blood splatter across my face; the tip of the demon's sword has punctured right through him.

     My heart stops.

     His body limps forward, I reach out and capture him into my arms but he's too heavy for me to hold up. I slowly drop us to our knees and hold him against my chest. I feel the tug of the blade as it gets pulled out from his back from a fine thread controlled by the demoness. He whimpers from the pain, the blood begins to pool in my lap; the warmer it gets the stronger I hold. Parts of me want to believe the harder I grip, the less blood that will come out.

     Don't you die on me. Don't you make me feel the guilt of you protecting me just to die...

     A heat burns in me; I feel no guilt just plain rage. I want to hurt her. I want to rip out her heart. I want to beat her to the ground for hurting him. All for what? A damn shard. A. single. damn.shard.

     She thrusts the blade behind her with the thread preparing a powerful speed and strength as she throws her hand back towards us in a whip-like manner. My eyes narrow into thin slits daring her to try to kill me. I won't falter. I will come back and haunt your ass.

     The tip of the blade comes so fast I don't have time to blink away the image and as it races closer and closer I feel the heat of my anger growing. Inches from my face it halts mid air. From the speed the blade went flying, there is no longer any blood on its length, it shines and sparkles before me. Did I stop it? Did my anger pause her attack?

     The sound of clanking fills all ears; we all turn our heads slowly to Kagome - she sits next to the red skull I was after before and is striking it with a single arrow. Each time she strikes a pain crosses the demon's face, she pulsates.

     "No!" The demon screams, the sword starts to swing back and I react.

     I throw out my right hand and grab a hold of the blade, the sharp edge slices into my palm but I ignore the pain; the demon's eyes turn to mine and I show her how angry she's made me. My teeth grit together and I am sure my face is red with frustration. The blade is caught in my hold and though my arm tugs lightly, her strength is not enough to beat the strength of my anger and adrenaline mixing together.

     "Kill her..." I hiss through my teeth.

     Kagome grabs a hold of the arrow with both hands now using her entire body this time to slam it down and through the red skull. It cracks slowly relieving a tiny red comb similar to the demon's in all aspects, it shatters beneath the arrow's head.

     "Oh..." The woman sighs out her last breath of air; all around us the hair, the sword, the skulls and even the demon herself begins to crumble into fine dust that blows away. All that's left is her tiny black dress that hovers down to the ground like a feather. From the garb I can see the purple sparkle of the shard as it plummets to the ground. It no longer calls for me for help.

     Warmth seeps into my white top bringing my attention back to Inuyasha. He's weak in my arms but he already looks better from seconds ago. He no longer whimpers and even struggles to get up and out of my arms. My heart beats fast and strong but he doesn't notice. While I help him back up, Kagome picks up the broken comb and holds it up to examine its fractured form.

     "So she was a comb." Inuyasha hunches forward a little when he stands, one arm grips to my shoulder for support. I glance down at my hand. There is a cut across my entire palm and it bleeds non-stop but I still don't feel that much pain from it. I look over my school uniform that used to be white and green, is now brown, black, red and other colors I don't even have a name for.

     I sigh. All the anger within me I had moments ago washes out of me as if I just went under a showers and dust and dirt washes away.

     "Yura was a comb..." Kagome repeats Inuyasha's comment as if she can hardly believe it. She twists the tiny comb back and forth inches from her face. Not one tiny bit of her is hurt from this attack. Not even a charred hair. And here Inuyasha and I am, beaten to a pulp.

     Yet she saved the day.

     "Are you really surprised? It probably got powers cause it was once used to comb the hair of the dead," she let's out a pig-like squeal from just that sentence alone and drops the comb instantly. She runs her hands across her clean clothes she must have gotten from our time, and starts for the shard. Inuyasha rolls his eyes and continues, "Yura didn't use it so much as it used her though.

     " Inuyasha falters against my body, his entire form is shaking from the pain. I use all my strength to support his weight until he's able to resume his footing.

     "That stab in your chest..." Kagome starts.

     "It's because you protected me." I finish. Now that Yura is gone shame and guilt pool inside my stomach. It's an awful feeling I have never had to experience until now. It hurts and is heavy. I want to be able to protect myself, fight along side him without becoming the person that weakens him and at the same time, a tiny little sliver of me enjoyed the fact he did protect me.

    My entire life was full of people who only hurt and abandoned me.

    "It's no big deal." He says. His eyes are turned to me and a weak smirk crosses his lips; he looks like he knows what I am thinking. There is a sereneness that thought. "What happened to the Shikon Jewel?" He turns his head to Kagome.

     She leans down to pick up the tiny little red bag the sliver hides in, opens it and let's it drop out onto her palm. "Safe and Sound."

     This is the first time I've seen the jewel broken. It's so tiny and fragile that my heart deepens and quake just from the sight of it. To believe - I am a part of that teeny, tiny little shard that all these demons want a part of. It's hard to believe that in order to find just a sliver of myself I have find probably the most powerful jewel in existence.

     And now we just have to find the rest of it...to find the rest of me. Us three have to complete this Jewel together.

     "Let's go guys." Inuyasha says. He pushes himself off my support and starts to head off in the direction I can only assume is the village.

     With all these frustrating new emotions, a half demon whose sole purpose is to take the jewel away and a naive ignorant girl that's so weak and pathetic I want to punch her - I can't help but to smile.

     With excitement leading me....I can move forward.


	9. Chapter 8: The Brothers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a year since I put up my last chapter. I can't explain to you why I've been late on these since it's no real excuse. I just hope you enjoy, this chapter is 18 pages long!

** Chapter 8: The Brothers **

****

                I don’t know this  girl – she stares back at me with the same level of surprise that I have for her – even with the water so murky and brown she is as clear as day to me. Her skin is dented with healing welts, dried scabs, old and new, bruises tatter her skin in yellow, purple, blue and green patches. But no damage can hide the radiating tan skin that thrives underneath, with its youthful life glow I’ve never seen before today. Just yesterday her long black hair was lifeless and dull but now it’s full of girth and spring, and cascades down to her tail bone like it was never burdened with split ends or frizz. However, the oddest and most unfamiliar of all her features has to be her eyes: the once empty, hollow and soul-less appearance of her eyes, stare back at me with liquid chocolate pools that sparkle with curiosity.

                Born and raised in present day Japan, she looks naturally at home within the shrine maiden’s garb of the average Shinto priestess of Japan’s feudal past. Her toes just barely poke free from underneath the red hakoma (pants) when she walks and the sleeves of her white haori (kimono jacket) stretch an inch or two pass her fingertips.

                Of all the years I’ve known her it strikes me completely odd, that the girl whose staring back at me is: me.

                So how did I make a drastic change?

                I literally fell into feudal Japan through a torii gate, but I wasn’t alone. A girl a year younger than I came through as well the same day. Though we both came from the same time period, and took the same class and both assigned to the same project, there aren’t many connections between the two of us. I recently moved to the part of Tokyo she lives in; she was popular and I was invisible. Yet, out of the two of us, Kagome has been the only one to find her way back to the present.

                For her to return she needed a shard of the Shikon jewel – the same jewel that she shattered and an essence of my soul was released from – and thusly why I look more alive. It was only a sliver from what Kaeda said, a piece to a puzzle that was long forgotten before my birth.

                I’ve yet to find a way to return to the present time. I’ve aimlessly walked back and forth through the village’s only torii gate at least a dozen times, with the jewel and without, but nothing. Just the estranged stares of the village people as they watched me, whispering about me under their breath. It’s obviously which of us the villagers prefer more of.

                Since Kagome’s abilities and Jewel history, she has been confirmed as Kikyo’s reincarnation and now is cherished as the new priestess and practical leader.

                But it’s our spiritual abilities that have us similar at all.    

                After my fail attempt to go back to the present time we’ve all came to the assumption that the myth about the torii gate must be true and that the real reason why I can’t return is because I have yet to finish my spiritual journey. The safest bet on what that could be has to do with the jewel. And so it has come down to this conclusion; Kagome and I must protect the jewel with everything we got until we find all the pieces.

                And as of right now our only shard is with the girl who broke it to begin with – in the present.

                A single green leaf dances within my view from my right; it glides gracefully left to right until it lands on the surface of the water, distorting the reflection I had got caught up in. I tear away from the depth of my mind and return to being alert, reminding me of what I was originally doing.

                I look to my right, there standing in a circle of dry sandy dirt stands a tall dead tree; it’s sharp almost leafless limbs reach up to the sky with skeleton like fingers. The color is a brown that screams it needs water but at the same time, it is far from death. Surrounding it, with at least a fifteen feet radius are lively green trees that filter the forest with an emerald aura.

                Eliminating the distance, I walk up to it and place my left hand against the trunk, it’s cool beneath my touch and its surface is smooth even with its ridges. I gaze upward, following it stretching arms to find Inuyasha, he is the only source of color the tree has as he sits on a thin branch. Both his arms and a single leg dangle lazily from the branch, and yet he seems unconcerned by the potential of falling or the branch breaking. Even with his head up against the trunk and his eyes squinting from the sun, he looks almost at peace…

                A cool breeze sweeps the area, filling my lungs with the mixed scent of rice paddies, sap from the trees and the wild flowers that bloom in-between them all. My hair flutters across my face in a dance that tickles my nose, and up above, Inuyasha’s limbs sway just the slightest. His ears twitch, just now, picking up the sound and smell of me, from the looks of it. He must have been dazed off in the dream world. He glances down at me, for the first time without any anger, irritation, or guardedness. With his content gaze and the cool breeze, I shiver.

                This time – this world, it’s far more beautiful than anything I have witnessed and my foster families took me far and wide across Japan’s landscapes. Every forest, plains, fields, yes were beautiful, but this place is untainted and untouched.

                Free. Open. Undying. Almost immortal.

                In the end this world won’t be as perfect as it is now and it makes me question my own existence. This feeling that fills my lungs and my veins with so much life can be ripped from me and out of no where the moment I finish my journey and the worse part of it is.

I do not know what that journey is.

As I peer up at Inuyasha and him, down at me, I begin to slip into the darkness of my mind that was locked away all my life until yesterday.

Two girls and one half demon – with Kagome constantly being kidnapped and losing our only shard multiple times already….Inuyasha really doesn’t have the time to be protecting the both of us. With our same set of skills, I really have to think about the better for us. She has more qualities about her that can benefit this journey better than I.

We can both see and sense the shards, we both harbor some sort of spiritual energy that can be taken out when we feel threatened, protective or enraged. But the differences are far more evident:

Kagome has been withholding the jewel her entire life, she has a physical attachment while I have a spiritual. She can take shards back and forth between past and present, giving her the ability to bring back supplies when needed. Not only that but she is the reincarnation of an apparently powerful priestess who was a protector of the jewel prior to Kagome receiving it.

I really have nothing on that.

I was born in the present with absolutely no connection to Kagome, Inuyasha or any spiritual priestess guardian. The most I can do above Kagome is hear the voices from the jewel itself but even then, that could just be me going insane….

I can’t imagine that me hearing voices is enough for me to get in the way of Inuyasha watching over Kagome to make sure she’s not kidnapped or loses the shard…Again. However, I don’t have a choice either; I have nowhere to go except this village.

I ring my brain from the darkness and it leaks like black liquid, how can I be consumed so quickly? Holding back from letting out an exasperated sigh, I mutter, “Kagome should be back soon.”

                His lips curl in an unpleasant twist, a grumble follows with the action. Luckily for Kagome and I, Inuyasha is quite easy to read, every single emotion is played out of his face in a very loud pronounced way. He’s not the only one unhappy with this choice though.

                The entire village heard them arguing this morning before she ultimately made her leap into the well – but who could really blame him for being angry. I am just as irritated, anxious and paranoid as he is.         

                Kagome was right though, we desperately need the supplies.

                The night before, with the hair demon, we were all beaten up and hurt – some worse than others. I should have died last night; my heart pumps with extra oxygen the more adrenaline builds in me just thinking about it, it’s heavy and feels like it’d explode.

                Inuyasha took that blade for me. He didn’t have too, he could have let me die and have one less girl to watch over but he done it. It wasn’t any average paper cut either; it was a full on, straight through the chest and out the back, gnarly wound. It leaves me shivering just imagining it happening to me, I can almost feel the tip of a sword pierce through me now, so much so I almost forget to breathe.

                Why did he protect me when I didn’t have the jewel?  This question swirled in my mind all night even as I slept and relived my every night dream; it was there, a shadow behind all the fighting. The days prior he kept threatening to kill Kagome and I for getting in his way of the Jewel. There is no real friendship between any of us, no relationship or family. He could have let me die and used Kagome for all her abilities since they are like mine.

Out of hundreds of shards, only one was found, and only one was needed to unleash all these emotions and memories that were chained away from me.

No one….No one in my entire life has ever protected me; not from bad choices, bad people, or anything remotely dangerous.

My fists curl against my red hakoma, gathering the silk material in-between my fingers as it bunches up. I drop my gaze from Inuyasha and stare aimlessly beyond the skeleton tree as every abandonment, betrayal, accusation, resentment, verbal and physical abuse flows through the depths of my mind like the river Styx. I have no control over this, no control over receiving knowledge I was forced to forget.

I know now why my mind chained them away, why it was so important for me to be empty back then; when all the “should have been” scary, heart breaking and traumatizing moments start hitting me now. So many….so many lost and forgotten that I can’t honestly remember a time when I should have been happy.

Slowly, the dark memories play like episodes, coming to a halt at one unparticular that I had blocked from seven years ago. A memory that now raises the hairs on my neck and forces a lump as thick as coal to stick in my throat. Goose bumps run down my skin with the waves of shivers that lead the way.

                I was ten and had already lost count on how many families had taken me in. This family consisted of a mother, father and their own blood son. I was to be the little dream girl that the mother had always wanted but unfortunately couldn’t have after she gave birth to her son.    

                The excitement of fostering a little girl quickly ended after a day or so, my modest bedroom was replaced with a craft room and I was squeezed into a small closet sized room on the first floor with paper-thin screen walls and old tatami flooring that prickled up. No real furniture could fit in this petite room so I was given a skinny mat to sleep on instead – still, it was just large enough for the corners of the mat to curve up along the walls on all sides. This made it incredibly difficult to push and pull the sliding door to get in and out.

                This memory was of a cold November night; it was hours after I was put to bed but I was restless and still wide awake. I stared blankly up at a molding stain on the white ceiling while I lied on my back with a scratchy blanket under my chin. I remember smelling cigarette smoke that wafted into my room invisibly – a silent warning of what was too come.

                This was odd – everyone in the house should be asleep – but I pushed it aside thinking I was just smelling imaginary things. That’s until I heard a heavy shuffling and felt the sliding movement of my door at my feet. Instinctively I scooted my legs up close to my chest and rolled to my side and pretended to be asleep.

                When the door came to a stop, I opened my eyes to a slit to see what was entering but all I could see was complete darkness. But I was only met with pitch black, no silhouette, no shadow, not even the kitchen night light. Was I just imagining it, I had thought, but something wasn’t right. The blanket on top of me began to move, lifting up towards the ceiling at the very end in a ghostly like manner and that’s when I felt it: cold, wrinkly hands gripping at my frozen ankles and tugging my legs straight before twisting me onto my back.

                I didn’t feel the defensiveness I should have. I didn’t feel the fear or the adrenaline. But I knew what was right and what was wrong from years of watching the world move while I was stuck, and this was not normal. So I began to kick. My feet frantically pushed and shoved, fighting against the cold hands that grew stronger and stronger while mine grew weak and tired. The hands quickly had them trapped beneath his approaching legs, squeezing them underneath his heavy weight as he scooted closer underneath my blanket.

                I started to scream but there was no urgency and half the volume, “No, no. Help. Mommy, Daddy, help.” My voice sounded like a real bad actor trying to act, even to me. Oh how I wish I had half the energy and will I have now.

                “Shush,” the man demanded. His voice was familiar; for the first few nights since I had moved with this family I heard him say it every night before we went to bed. “Shush, my child.”

It was my new father.

                Just when I thought it was okay to stop my yelling I felt his hands once again, but instead of my ankles – which were sat on – they began to grip at the sides of my thighs; claw-like fingers ripped and tore at my pajama bottoms. I struggle even more, but it was like I was a pathetic worm under his legs and no amount of my yelling could save me. No one could hear me; I had no pitch in my voice.

                The blanket flew off me distracting me just long enough for the sudden slap that sent my head hard down onto the mat, my body creaked on an angle as I was twisted away, but I felt no pain. Just as quick as his hand reached my face I was quick enough to turn it back with no emotions, no fear and no agony to express any sort of pain.

                It paused him; his eyes were wide so much I could see the whites against the darkness surrounding us. His lips parted but only staggering noises of confusion came out.

                And then the most bizarre thing happened. He was ripped off of me from a single arm that wrapped around his neck from beyond the sliding door. He was pulled back into the darkness with only the sounds of shuffling and groaning to be heard.

 And then …complete darkness took me.

The little I can remember after was waking up to my mother screaming for help and my father was sprawled out face down on the kitchen floor. My brother had woken up just as I did – it’s left me wondering, if she’s panicking and my brother and are left wondering – Who was the one that pulled him off me the night before?

                She sent me away after that, shouting and pointing a finger at me, “The cursed child. She’s a cursed one. Cursed I tell you.”

                There was an investigation but I heard no reports on it. My mother was so angry and believed I was the cause so much that she would come to the center I was taken too and point at me through the windows, screaming at the other families as they came in and out on how I was cursed and a murderer.  

                I told no one about that night.

                It took almost two years before someone else adopted me.

                 

“Keara….” The memory fades slow but surely this time, “Keara…did ya hear me?”

                The colors of nature return to my vision, the sounds around me become alive again and I am finally released from the darkness of my unfortunate reality. I look up at Inuyasha, his eyes are wide and curious now, he’s even adjusted onto his side enough to peer down at me fully.

                “No…Sorry, got caught up in something.” I turn my back to the tree and let myself fall back first against it. Unlike my past, I can feel the pain of the thump on my back but it’s unbelievably reassuring. I am safe. I am not in that memory anymore. My legs give out underneath my weight and I’m plopped onto the dry dirt below.

                “You’re a weird one,” he replies, “and I said, it must suck.”

                My eyes drift over the rice fields, my heart calms in my chest and I feel the phantom pull of apathy wash over me, guaranteeing me no more sadness but numbness instead. “What sucks?”

                “That she gets to go back to her family but you’re stuck here. Ya sure you’re okay?”

                I roll my head along the trees trunk just enough to gaze up at him. “I am fine – and I have nothing and no one to go home too anyways.”

                His thick brows that always show an array of emotion come to narrow above his nose, “What’d you mean?” His voice is soft and somber; there is almost an understand behind the way he asks.

                I can’t help but frown even though I never longed for a family, friends or anything up until now. “I never knew my real parents and I was fostered since I can remember. No family kept me longer than a month or two.”

                He maneuvers himself out his lounging position and one where both feet dangle right above me, his clawed hands rest flat against the branch he’s perched on keeping him sturdy. “Nothing and no one…”He repeats. We sit in silence – the memory I just relived and the words we just shared, stretched far between us – this is an oddly comfortable silence. But then he sighs, softer than I thought he could ever get, “I have no one either.”

                His eyes lower, closing just the tiniest and his forehead smoothes out, a deep, sad expression replaces his curiosity. A pit lodges itself were my heart is, it physically hurts me seeing him like this and I don’t know why. I swallow hard; it chokes me from breathing for a moment, I clear my throat. I can’t watch him suffer in pain like this. “Well, you’re not alone right now.”

                His eyes light up, his lips part as if to speak but no words come out. The breeze returns, dancing his silver locks across his face and sweeping away all that sadness that was once there, it tickles my skin against but this time I can only shiver.

                “How are you feeling by the way?”

                He snaps right of the stunned look and crossing his arms, returning back to normal with such a simple question. “Nothing to worry about. I don’t heal like you humans.” He boasts with a sly grin.

                 “Good, that means you should be all better now?”

                From where I am sitting he doesn’t look hurt, matter in fact, he looks perfectly okay. After the fight he was only stumbling around for a couple hours but this morning he was running and leaping like the hair demon never came. But that doesn’t mean he’s not hiding the pain.

                “Good as new.”

                A smile itches the corner of my lips, it’s quite heavy since I am not used to this action yet, but all at once the weight of worry falls off my shoulders and I feel light once more. If it wasn’t for that demon blood running through his veins, he and I wouldn’t be alive right.

                “What’re ya smiling about?” he asks suspiciously.

                My head rolls back and forth against the tree, my eyes watching the shiftiness of his, “I don’t know – I guess I am just happy. Happy that you’re okay.”

His eyes, the liquid amber that they are, watch mine, the solid bark brown that have somehow lightened during these last few days. He’s still as a statue. Does he not believe me? Has he even heard those words before? He’s said he was alone. Maybe he had no one to care about him.

                “Come down here.” We hear the subtle clicking of metal on metal, not the brash sound of swords clattering but a whisper compared to it. It’s Kagome, we can tell by her higher pitch voice and when we look she’s pushing a pink bike along the rice paddy trail. Upon the bike’s basket that is attached on the back is an over sized yellow backpack that looks like it must have had ten people trying to close it from how packed it looks.

                I’m surprised the bag didn’t explode open on her way here with how some of the trails in the village and forest has pretty sized rocks she must have hit.

                Inuyasha grumbles at the sight of her, he leans back to his relaxed position from before, back against the trunk of the tree and limbs dangling freely. “Not doing it.” He sneers.

                “Ka-.” I start.

                “I said come here!” She cuts me off with a shout. An angry shudder rolls over me but I don’t get a chance to stop her before she throws out another command. “Sit boy!”

                An ugly, nasty groans comes from the tree behind me, I throw my hands over my head thinking it’s coming down on me along with Inuyasha but instead the sound of a heavy mass crashing to the dirt ground beside me erupts. The dusty dirt flies about in a mushroom cloud, catching in my throat and nose. I start to cough instantly.

                I can still see it, after removing my arms, through the dark grey of the dusty dirt, I can see his purple necklace glowing faintly. His entire front is flat in an enclave shaped around his body. The force of that ability is devastating – the sheer weight of his body gains the amount of a meteor that can practically destroy lands.

                Surprisingly though, the thin branch he was sitting on still stands strong and firm above us.

                He unburies his face, a few pebbles and dirt scuffs his cheeks, but nothing can deter that fierce glare he gives Kagome. “What was that for?!”

                With her nose in the air and her head raised high, she kicks the kickstand down for her bike and balances it still. Turning on her heels towards the end of the bike, she rummages through the big yellow bag and pulls out a little white box from the top. On top of the white box is a red plus sign, the symbol of a medical aid.

                Another angry shudder jolts through me; I can feel fire burning in my chest and red outlining all my surroundings. Is this why she commanded him to the ground? So she can heal his wounds? Did she not think that using that command would cause them to re-open, if not worsen?

                Just seconds of dwelling on it quickly turns my anger into type of enraged hunger; I can’t take it anymore. I bite my bottom lip, fighting and fighting, but it only grows and as it grows, my bite turns bloody.

                She starts to approach him, the little white box held in her hands, the same expression plastered on her face, I finally crack.

                “Stop!” I shout through gritted teeth.

                All movement and sound comes to an abrupt halt. I can’t even see the smallest movement of either of their chests as they inhale and exhale, or the sound of the wind that is clearly still making its way. Their eyes are wide and slowly turn to me.

                Good. I want her to see how angry I am.

                “If…” I exhale, an odd pressure pushes on my chest when I start to talk. I hadn’t even noticed, but my hands curled into fists on the grass below, I can just barely spot the faint purplish glow that fumes off them like flames. I try to focus back on her and with all I can; I do my best to talk as calmly as possible. “If you would have stopped and listened, you would have learned he’s fine. He heals faster than the two of us. But…” I inhale and then exhale, the rock of irritation in my belly shifts uncomfortably. I still want to scream and lose control. Fight. “If he was hurt, you screaming that demand would have caused his wounds to get worse.”

                There’s a pause between us three. Not a breeze. Not even breathing can interrupt this stiff silence. The glow of red that outlined everything starts to fade as do the purple fumes around my fists. There is a tension on my face that I didn’t feel when the angry grew that is releasing now. Within my veins I can sense the rush of power that mixed with the frustration, a built up anger and power that must have been growing in me since I was little and could do nothing about.

                I can’t imagine how worse I will become when we find more shards and more of my soul is returned…

                “But…” Kagome’s fingers tighten around the little box. The blinding self-righteous side of her is gone and I don’t see anything left on her face but uncertainty.

                “Keara’s right.” Inuyasha reveals. He pushes himself up with wobbly arms; he comes to a sitting position with his legs crossed and his right hand coming to the left shoulder of his red and white haori. He drags it off just enough to expose a triangle of smooth, non-damaged skin. There is not even a scar or a bruise to show what happened last night – just completely tan and toned flesh. “Ya think ya’d know by now.”

                “For so great of a wound to have healed so quickly and leave no scar.” Kaeda’s voice can be heard from the tree line to my right, I glance over in simple wonder of where the hell she’d come from. She staggers over using a little wooden stick as a staff, it creaks under her weight with every movement but manages to hold strong, her damaged left arm swings in a makeshift carrier.

                If anyone needs medical help, it’s Kaeda.

“Just cause it woulda killed a human don’t make it a big deal for someone like me.”

                Using the dead tree for support, I climb my way back to my feet, underneath me my legs wobble for a moment before they regain their strength. An ache shoots through them with every muscle that works, a painful reminder of days and nights of running and fighting demons. Such is the life I will be living for now. Once I recuperate I offer my left hand for Inuyasha to take.

                He hesitates, staring at my bruised hand as if it’s an alien species, for a split second I catch his eyes looking up at me with a distrusting glare. In the reflection of his amber eyes I can see a frown fall on my face – just seeing the expression has me frowning deeper. The ends of my fingers begin to tingle like they’ve been asleep.

                I get lost within my reflection, never having seen such expressions on my visage before, that I didn’t notice the hot embrace wrapping around my hand until the tugging starts. The tingling immediately comes to a halt and I rip my eyes away and feel the strength behind the hold and the warm sensation of a different type of tingling that runs up my arm like butterflies. He pulls himself up and gives me a small nod of thanks. Below the strength and warmth of his hand, his skin is rough and I start to register, that the heat that comes off his flesh isn’t normal human heat, but of much hotter temperature. The butterflies I feel come from his touch alone, and is the same that I felt the day I first arrived here – that strong urge that grew when I got closer to him and painful when I was taken away.

                His hand rips from mine, stealing away the sensation that ran through me, leaving it outstretched and cold. My heart drops within that second. He slaps his hand hard against his chest, growling beneath his breath. He rips open his haori where he had tugged it own before to reveal a tiny flea flat against the bareness of his chest.

                The fleas’ body is bigger than the average pest but not by much, it is the abnormal shape that throws me off. This is not no little bug – its a little bug man.

                His structure is mostly human-like but with the given multiple limbs like that of his bug relation: Four arms instead of two with an orange needle for a nose and mouth. He has big bug eyes that only have a single pupil like a human, and a balding head with a crescent of grey hair that matches his grey mustache.

                In the shape of a pancake, the little bug man pops off Inuyasha’s chest and floats down like a feather into the palm of his attacker. We all lean in closer to get a better look. His chest is still moving, telling us that he is indeed still alive.

                His eyes stare up at the four of us, nose twitching as he sniffs the air, and then he sucks in a long breath and just like that, he pops himself back into his normal shape. “Greetings and salutations,” his voice is painfully nasally.

                “It talks…” Kagome whispers.

                “If it ain’t Myoga the flea.” Inuyasha’s lips twitch in a snarly kind of way.

 

\------*

 

                The fire blazes brilliantly against the rising darkness that sweeps from the single window of the hut, we all watch it as it’s flames dance in an erotic sequence among the ashes of branches. We’ve all come to sit in our normal spots – Kagome on Kaeda’s left and Inuyasha’s right, and I at his left – between Inuyasha and I sits Myoga. His tiny legs are crossed and his hands dig into his long sleeves while he stares thoughtfully at the fire.   

                We came to the decision to return to Kaeda’s hut after Myoga, the flea demon, admitted to coming a long distance to speak to ‘Lord Inuyasha’. We knew that whatever it was, might be long and figured it’d be best for Kaeda to have a spot to sit while we listened.

                “So, what’d ya want to tell me?”

                 “Someone’s been searching for your lord father’s tomb.” Myoga’s large eyes narrow as he speaks, as if the flames before him is the real criminal.

                “Whaddya mean somebody’s tryin’ to find my dad’s tomb?”

                Honestly, I am still stuck on the title of ‘Lord’ that Myoga not only called Inuyasha’s father but Inuyasha himself. I re-evaluate Inuyasha’s current attire for a split second – not very regal or royal-like- but what throws me off the most is his lack of manners and his weak grammar. Personally, without this little back knowledge I wouldn’t see a drop of royalty or lordship within him. Hell, I still can’t.

“As guardian of his final resting place I could stand it no longer. However your father’s urn is the most important item and it is no longer there.”

                “So where’d it move off to?”

                “Regrettably, sire, no one knows.”

                “Some guardian you are,” he sighs, going as far as showing his sarcasm by dropping his head down onto his lifted left hand. He rests there watching the little flea with a placid look.

                Although, Myoga’s back is to Inuyasha, the little big shivers under the half demon’s gaze. It shakes his entire little form; he must have displeased Inuyasha before to know what actions come after such a glare.

                “Inuyasha, they say your father was a phantom beast. That the western land were his domain…” Kaeda presents to us more than ask.

                He shrugs, “Can’t say I remember it much.”

                “Your father was a demon among demons, great and powerful!” Myoga says with pride, flinging all four of his tiny little arms in the air when he speaks, “his blood was especially delicious – and you, lord Inuyasha, have inherited that from him.”

                “Yay for me…”

                “Wow! And what about his mom?” Kagome’s smile is larger than ever, her hands press against her bent knees and she even leans forward to hear Myoga better. I watch her carefully, a brow rising in uncertain curiosity. One minute she’s fighting teeth and nail with him and the next she’s interested in his life story. Are all girls like this? Will I become this flip, flop? I hope not.

                It takes seconds for her question to really click in my head – I had a similar conversation with Inuyasha earlier today but it was more on the line of how alone we were…and I put it together like a puzzle that’s pieces are still missing.

                My eyes dart cautiously to Inuyasha, his face is twisted with a bout of emotions I can’t register; his upper lip twitches exposing his sharp canines.

                “She was a beauty beyond compare. A true…”

                I don’t even see it happen, but Inuyasha manages to get on his feet faster than I can blink and before Myoga can continue his description, Inuyasha digs his right heel into the flea demon until he’s one with the ground. He doesn’t stop there; he twists his foot back and forth until satisfied and then stomps around the fire towards the door.

                “Hey! That wasn’t very nice!” Kagome screeches.

                “Just drop it, okay?! She died a long time ago.” He snaps back, throwing a sharp look over his shoulder briefly before he throws the reed door to the side and exits the hut.

                The reed flap falls back into place, clicking against the edge of the door space and when it does all sight of Inuyasha is blocked leaving my heart to drop into my stomach. We may be both alone – but he knew his mother and father, and he lost both of them. I’ve never experienced that…

                “Did I say something to make him upset?” Kagome looks at each of us for an answer, but we all remain silent, the most she gets from us is subtle looks and me biting back from snapping.

                I mean really? Did she say something wrong? He got upset that his mother was brought up and then you yell at him for being upset? He just announced his mother had passed, girl, get your shit straight.

                I didn’t notice until my legs begin to ache, that my fingers are digging so deep into my red hakoma that my nails have cut into my skin underneath. I pull my hands away but not without dragging my pants along with them.

                Kagome is clueless, her eyes wide and full of child curiosity – it doesn’t look like she’d know how it would feel to lose someone in the least bit. And for some reason…that drives me insane.

                I can’t take it anymore. My fingers wrench themselves from my hakoma and I stumble pathetically to my feet, legs wobbling like noodles below me. Strength doesn’t return to them quick enough to not receive odd stares and glances from everyone.

                “Where are you going?” Kagome asks.

                More and more, I have to hold back, irrational emotions swell inside me that I have to turn on my heels when I get the chance. Keep control. Keep control. But the little voice in my head is screaming, ‘what are you, my mother?’ and other obscenities I block. “You still have a family.” The words just barely make it over a whisper; I don’t even know if they can hear me over the cracking of the fire.

                “Don’t you?” Her words feel like they are jabbing at me, I use all my mental strength just to keep from snarling at her. For Christ sakes, the second night we were here I’d confessed to her while we lay on the floor trying to sleep that I had no one. I remember it like it was yesterday, dark and full of exhaustion, she whispered to me she missed her family and I whispered I had none. Regardless after I made my quick confession she managed to fall asleep…or was it during. Either way she clearly must have not heard me.

                I close my eyes and shake my head, “no.” I whisper again.

                There is no point in wasting time with explaining to them my life story, after all, I truly never had a life, but right now all I want to do is escape the tension in this tiny hut. I follow Inuyasha’s previous lead and exit the hut.

 

\---**

                The reed curtain falls behind me with a hardly audible click, I was far less aggressive on my leave than Inuyasha was but at least I can escape without further questions. Beyond the village the sun has fully gone down and the moon is up over the horizon, just barely reaching the tops of the trees as it’s radiating light bestows the sleeping village with a silvery glow. A breeze sweeps across the dirt paths that travel through and around the little town and it raises tiny bumps along my arms.

                I rub my hands over my arms but it brings me no comfort – it’s almost too quiet – the birds are sleeping, the animals are at home, and not even the bugs are cricketing.

                Regardless, it’s beautiful and the most peaceful sight I’ve ever seen. Yet I have nowhere to go.

                Inuyasha is not in sight and that weird tingling that I feel when he’s not around is so faint it’s hardly noticeable, at least I know he’s somewhere nearby. With no clear image on where to go I let my feet decide for me and before I know it, they lead me along a familiar path through the village to the rice paddies.

                The dirt trail here is smooth and free of any rubble, every day use has made it comfortable for those who wear no shoes to just skip along the path if they choose but I will do no skipping here – there are sights so beautiful I don’t want to pass up.

                With the moon full and large just ahead of me, brightens all scenery. To my sides the silver glow gleams ontop of the calm waters of the rice paddies and even with its browned color, the moon’s reflection is crisp and like a mirror image. The wind rocks the plants back and forth like a baby in a cradle. Beyond the dirt path, stands Inuyasha’s skeleton tree, it’s a skinny black silhouette against the brightness of the moon, a scary image for children for its limbs look like bony hands reaching for the moon’s light as if thirsty.

                As I come closer to the tree I can spot Inuyasha sitting on the highest branch, his back to me and his long silver hair waving in the wind.  Soon I am completely enveloped by the shine; my body and soul leak droplets of liquid anger from all my pores and leaves me empty. I fill myself with a deep breath of the crisp clean air, its dewy substance runs down the center of my being and fills my lungs with the scent of night life. Chills run through me all the way down to me feet, leaving the bottoms left with the cool tingling sensation that even the dirt floor provides.

                The closer I step to the tree the more secure I feel within myself and within this world. I circle about the tree until I come just far enough off to the side where I don’t have to completely crane my neck when I look up at Inuyasha. From here I can see his eyes are free of any irritation and have a sort of peacefulness about them.

                He turns them down to me, but doesn’t express any anger for walking in his calm, instead – we have an understanding.

                We both look back at the moon and let it steal all our darkness away.

                Against the chill of the wind a hot wave flashes through me and following it, painful needle-like tingles creep up my finger tips and to my chest.  I take in a deep breath of air, thinking it must be from all the fighting but when I exhale a powerful gust of wind blows right into me; my hair becomes a black veil across my face so thick I can’t see through it.

                 I scramble to pull it from my vision when right next to me I hear a soft ‘pat’ sound. “Get down!” Inuyasha commands, suddenly at my side. He snatches my right wrist and drags us both down to the dirt ground with his weight. My left hand just barely catches me before I fall flat on my face but it can’t stop the rest of my body from plummeting on top of rocks and pebbles. I groan from the pinching pains through touch all over my chest and legs. “Something’s coming, can you feel it?”

                The tingling sensation grows from beyond my chest to my stomach where it knots into a confusing ball; it juggles about there in a non-aggressive way and more of an annoying one. Could this be what he means by ‘feeling it’? I thought I could only sense shards. I drop my body fully onto the ground and focus on clearing my face of my hair and once I do, I see something.

                At the center of the moon now hovers an old style, two wheeled horse strung carriage without the horses. Its backside is mostly to us with flapping purple curtains that were used as doors. Ugly little green creatures scurry all over it and around it, using both their hands and feet to claw themselves to the old wood as they crawl towards the back. Just then, the purple curtain flap wide enough to expose a woman dressed in layers upon layers of kimono, the one on the outside a royal pink covered in thick gray chains I’ve only seen used to secure trailers to trucks.

 She is a beautiful woman with fantastically long hair cut in the fashion that reminds me of a kabuki actress. Her chocolate brown eyes are full of sadness as they peer down at us with parted painted pink lips.

“It is you….Inuyasha.” She mutters so unbelievably soft and quiet that it’s a surprise I can hear her. The ball that juggles within me speeds its bouncing pace. Something’s definitely not right here. She struggles within the chains, squirming back and forth. The ugly little demons crawl into the carriage, two each taking the ends of the chains and tightening the grip they have on her. She lets out a scream of pain that brings Inuyasha to his feet.

“Mother!” He shouts.

What….?

I immediately look up at him for answers but all I find is his mouth gaping wide just like the surprise in his eyes.

The ground shakes below us and to the left of the carriage; dark menacing clouds start to form. They twist and shape into an enormous  three fingered demon hand, so large it could only belong to a giant, the hand reaches out for the carriage and with a single grip around the wooden surface it shatters it to splinters. The woman and her demon masters are all that’s left as the wooden bits fall to the ground yards from us. The woman lays unconscious but still chained within the grip of the giant’s dark purple skinned hand.

I hurry to my feet just before Inuyasha attempts to rush for her and grab him by the arm. He looks back at me with the same surprised and confused wide eyed look and all I can do is shake my head. I can’t explain to him how wrong or weird this feels but I can at least stop him for just a second in hopes he’ll acknowledge it.

Another rumble shakes the ground, revealing a pair of red circular eyes through the black clouds and just like that, by some abnormal control the clouds start to disperse revealing the gigantic beast behind them.

                The demon is far uglier than the little green ones that now grip onto the sleeping woman, with no nose his face is mostly a wide gaping mouth with triangular shaped teeth. Two small horns protrude from his forehead and a dirty mop of grey hair stretches down his back like a mullet. Its expression makes it look dumb and submissive to a greater force. But this creature is beyond just a giant, it’s taller than mountains.

                On the giant’s left shoulder stands a far more attractive demon with similar qualities as Inuyasha; amber eyes glare down at us while long silver hair waves with the wind. This demon, unlike Inuyasha, has an air of royalty unlike anything I’ve seen or felt; also unlike Inuyasha, this man seems tamed – his hair is well kept without any hair locks by his small elven-like ears, his skin looks fairer in color and smoothness but oddest of all is the two purple streaks that stretch on both sides of his cheeks, a purple crescent moon on his forehead and the overly flutter boa-like scarf thing that hugs his right arm and that dances behind him with the wind. It could reach his feet if the wind wasn’t pulling it.

                His clothes are very regal, mostly white with a few red clan symbols on his left shoulder. A metal shoulder pauldron protects from his waist up to his left arm where it spikes up in a decorative gesture. A black and yellow garter made of fine silk ties his sword to his left hip.

                Standing before this royal demon on the giant’s left forearm is a small green kappa demon, big yellow eyes with slit pupils gaze down at us while he wears a hideous brown monk’s uniform and hat. In his left arm he waves about a staff twice his side that at the top has two heads, one of an old man and the other an old woman, carved into the wood.

                “It’s you…” Inuyasha hisses, “Sesshomaru!”

                “I’ve quite missed you as well, little brother.” Even the demon’s voice sounds regally cold.

                There is no denying the similarities between the two but ignoring the oddities is nearly impossible but Inuyasha’s angry glare tells all. This man is his brother and whoever he is, they aren’t on friendly terms.

                My eyes wander to the woman; if the demon is his brother and Inuyasha is half demon, I can’t imagine that she is both their mother’s. Sesshomaru is clearly a full demon, I can’t sense a lick of human inside of him and he certainly plays the part.

                “Inuyasha, the woman…” I step to his side fully.

                “A mortal, how interesting.” Sesshomaru’s attention turns to me and when those amber eyes, cold and narrowed, find me ice runs through me.

                My eyes dart between Sesshomaru and the woman now, that ball in my stomach at stop speed. This is wrong. All of this wrong. How long has Inuyasha’s mother been dead? How is it possible she is here now? Why does he have her?

                “These ‘human’ creatures, I should think you’d had enough of them, or is it a taste from father?” Sesshomaru continues when I don’t respond.

                Inuyasha bellows out an irritated growl, beside me his hands clench into fists that shake and turn white at the knuckles. “That’s not all, is it? You couldn’t have come all this way just to say that.”

                “Be not a fool. I have no such time to waste. The tomb of our father, where must I seek it?” Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any more unpleasant under his gaze, he narrows his eyes even further.

                “Our father’s tomb? Why ask me?”

                “Myoga said it was lost….So if you didn’t take it, who did?” I glance between the two, earning a pause from Sesshomaru who is peering right through us now.

                We’re all silent for a few seconds; I am personally trying to unravel this mystery while the other two glare daggers at one another.

                “Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known to its protector – no other clues are known.” He riddles.

                “I got no idea what you’re talking about. Even if I did, there’s no way I’d tell you.” Inuyasha hisses once again.

                Seeing….yet never seen, unknown protector….I never paid much mind to riddles or mysteries – I didn’t pay attention to anything really but it kind of sounds like an eye or something. It sees but can’t be seen – that or a ghost.

                “I see….Then you leave me no choice but to let your mother’s suffering convince you.” Sesshomaru uncrosses his once crossed arms and with just lifting his right hand a golden string whips about from his pointer and middle fingers and strikes the ugly giant on his left cheek.

                The beast roars so loudly in pain that the earth shakes; I throw out my right arm to grip onto Inuyasha for support as my legs try to get their stability. The giant’s claws clench around the woman, awakening her just enough for her to let out an audible groan.

                Inuyasha’s face twists with anger and a mocking grin, a battle of uncertainty. I can tell he doesn’t want to believe his brother, but at the same time, his anger shows he does. His eyes dances between Sesshomaru and this woman he thinks is his mother. A grunt rises from his throat, a passive, whatever kind of sound but yet his fists are still shaking.

                “Nice try! She’s been dead for years now and we both know it. Like I’d really fall for some stupid trick like that.”

                Instead of Sesshomaru responding, it’s the little kappa demon that let’s out a chaotic fit of laughter. “You’re whose ‘stupid.’ Recalling spirits from the netherworlds is a simple task if you are lord Sesshomaru.” His voice is annoyingly high-pitched and nasally like Myoga’s. It’s hard to take something so irritatingly annoying and ugly as a kappa, seriously. “He was even so kind as to give her flesh, and yet her own son would deny it. How sad to be a mother to one such as you.”

                No. This isn’t right. Every time I look at her or they bring her up that ball jumps wildly inside me.

                The woman, on queue to his speech, awakens fully. Again, this throws me off and I can’t help but feel suspicious. It gets worse when she reaches out to him like a dramatic actress, “Inuyasha…” she pleads.

                Inuyasha’s eyes can’t get any wider and now they are filled with bewilderment and terror, he’s actually starting to believe them so much that he is speechless.

                “I have come back, Inuyasha, back from the world of the dead.” A weak smile stretches across her pained face; the giant squeezes her body once again rendering her unconscious with a final scream of pain.

                He can’t really believe this….I watch him in surprise that his mouth is still gaping open. He’s desperate to believe this…He’s desperate to save her. He lets out a loud snarl and bounds in a long leap towards the beast’s arm that holds her captive, his right arm thrusting back and cracking before he strikes the giant’s arm. With Iron Reaver in command bloody crescent shaped blades tear and cut off the giant’s arm.

                Along with the forearm she plummets to the ground, now free from the three claws that withheld her. The giant bellows out an earth shaking scream, his entire body stumbles back in staggering pain. As her body oddly elegantly hops on the ground towards me, the tiny green demons scurry away when the notice I am standing nearby.

                “Keara, you and her get outta here!” Inuyasha demands mid air, he comes to land between us and Sesshomaru.

                I refuse to budge; instead I walk next to the woman and gaze over her suspiciously. The chains lay limp, shaggily lying about her body that looks frail but unhurt. There is not a single bruise or mark on the entirety of her body that I can see. No human would suffer such power and come out of it fine. I feel irritation for this woman building within me. It’s all a play. Inuyasha’s brother is tricking him and Inuyasha is too blind to see it….She is his weakness.

                “Inu….” I look up to inform him of this trickery but when I do I see it coming, the demon’s right hand speeding towards the woman and I. My heart flutters in my chest and my eyes widen, I don’t have time to respond but the woman beside me does. She awakens just in time – again – her entire body somehow having enough energy and speed to leap up.

                Inuyasha leaps into action and forces himself between us and the incoming attack, it’s too late for him to stop the blow, his back meets the demons palm and he’s coming at us along with the claws. The woman raises both hands, hovering in the middle of her palms is a beautiful flowers that starts to glow a brilliant white light. It first starts as a small sphere around the flower itself before it grows quick as light that swallows her, me and Inuyasha in a light that grows so bright I have to avert my eyes from being blinded. When the light touches my skin I can feel that uncomfortable tingling once again and a coolness that burns….

               And then….I see and feel nothing.


	10. Chapter 9: The Sword

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was really late. I was working on "Come What May" since it is a much smaller story. If you like this one, I advise you read that one as well since that story will eventually connect to this one! Also, I apologies for not updating; we just were kicked out of our previous house since we lost our job and I had to move up to Georgia so I've been busy with that! MY apologies!

Chapter 9: The Sword

 

                It’s so cold…Am I frozen?

                I can’t see anything but I know my eyes are open. Only darkness fills every crack. I am not sitting or standing…or laying, it feels like…I am floating. So cold…

                “Wake up.” Soft words echo through the chill and shadows, it’s a woman’s voice. It sounds familiar, so familiar.

                How’d I get here? Where am I? All I remember was bickering with Inuyasha’s brother and a large demon, maybe there was a light…

                “Wake up.” She repeats. Her voice is almost too soothing; it makes me want to stay in this darkness regardless of how cold I feel. Where have I heard her voice before?

                Beyond the darkness there is the faintest sound of battle, metal on flesh, the smell of decay fills my nostrils and it burns. My body tries to recoil from the scent and sound but it is unmoving. I am a statue, frozen in a dark abyss. Those sounds are familiar as well.

                An image of a pair of brown eyes stare at me through the darkness, then red lips below it. She smiles, her eyes are warm like pools of chocolate. I know those eyes; I’ve seen them fiercely fight off hoards of demons every night in my dreams.

                “Who are you…?” I hear myself say but the words, I know they didn’t leave my lips yet they echo in the darkness.

                “Wake up. Inuyasha needs you,” she replies, “Wake up.”

                Inuyasha…

                That light…I remember it now, the demon was coming towards me so quickly and then a flash of red. Inuyasha! It was Inuyasha, who jumped in front of that woman and I. And then she let out a bright light…

                Where is Inuyasha? I need to wake up.

                Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

                A vacuuming sound fills the darkness, it’s loud and overwhelming. I want to cover my ears but I still can’t move. Deep within the darkness there is a sparkle, like glitter, it gets bigger and whiter – faster towards me until finally it blinds me. The whiteness covers me in a heat wave and washes my entire being and then-

                Nothing.

                I open my eyes expecting to be burned by some omniscience light but instead I staring at clump on clumps of brown, decaying grass at my side. Beyond the grass, between openings I see a dark murky pond with ominous fog rolling over it.

                Rolling my head straight I notice the sky above is an odd mix of grey and black but yet no stars, no moon, no nothing to signify it is a sky at all. It is eerie and moving, without clouds. Narrowing my eyes suspiciously I move my arms to push myself up.

                That’s when I see them.

                Ugly, hideous little things. Kappa demons – I know them from all the signs that litter the rivers and streams back in the present, a boogey man kind of creature for kids that adults use to keep them from getting close to water. And yet here they are much like the demon I saw next to Sesshomaru. These ones are different. They have a grey tone to their nasty green skin and look slimy. They have webbed hands and feet that are bare of any clothes; their eyes are wide without lids and large like aliens, yellow to the very center where cat-like slits stare at me. Their weird pointed mouths gape open at me as if they are shocked by something.

                I glare at them, angry that they are in my presence and then I spot their tiny little hands reaching for rusty chains that lie next to their feet.

                “They couldn’t hold you.” A familiar, nasally voice whispers at my ear. I glance to the shoulder the voice comes from to eye Myoga. The little flea demon is huffing and puffing, sweat drenches him completely.

                “Where are we? Where’d you come from and what do you mean?”

                “Can’t answer questions now! You have to stop her!” He pants, two of his four arms lift lazily up in a direction that points across the pond and my eyes follow.

                Just barely visible through the fog on the pond, I make out two silhouettes by the water’s edge. They are sitting close, so close to one another that it looks like they are combining into one being. Narrowing my eyes to get a better look, I vaguely notice the recognizable colors of red and silver of Inuyasha and the pink and black of the woman before.

The more I squint my eyes the more I start to realize that she looks off, very off…like…her face is…missing. Smooth fleshy clay is all that is her visage and her once neat hair and kimono are messy and slumping off her shoulders, exposing a nipple-less breast.

Inuyasha isn’t the same either; almost half his entire body is being sucked into the woman’s chest that moves like putty. His wrists and below his waist is all that dangles limply on the ground before her.

Without a second thought I am on my feet so fast my legs wobble below me, “I knew she was off!” This was a trap this entire time! Just as I am about to yell slurs at her that only a sailor would know, out from the fog I spot a small figure rowing a tiny boat. I know that creature; it’s the demon Kappa that was by Sesshomaru’s side.

Ducking down to the ground I keep out of sight. I might be able to handle her but I don’t know that creature’s powers fully. I can’t take a risk of Inuyasha being sucked up more while I am fighting the demon off. Even so, the Kappa seems more focused on the woman than the world around him.

The boat scrapes onto the muddy bank near the woman before coming to a full stop. The Kappa throws the paddle he used to row the boat into the water and grabs his staff from the boat’s bottom. Hopping off the boat he squeals angrily. Even from this distance, his nasally scream hurts my ears, I cringe from the sound.

He rushes at the woman with his two head staff swinging in tiny circles. “Stop! What are you doing? No soul-sucking till I tell you!” As he speaks his staff collides across her face, wiping it to the side and leaving a putty-like imprint behind. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the putty returns back to a smooth surface.

Now is my chance, I have to get close while they are both distracted with themselves. Getting down to my hands and knees, I start to crawl along the bank of the pond using the tall dead grass and the cat tails for coverage. The closer I get the better I’ll be able to come up with an attack plan.

“You can have your way with him later, after he tells us how to find the tomb of Lord Sesshomaru and Inuyasha’s father.” The Kappa continues.

“That’s Jaken,” Myoga whispers into my ear, “He’s Sesshomaru’s evil henchman. Keep your eye on his staff, that’s majority of his power.”

“Inuyasha, Inuyasha!” The woman calls out, “Your father’s tomb, where is it? Please tell me!”

There isn’t much to be heard from Inuyasha, only the sound of mumbling and gurgling. The sound makes me want to clear my throat, as if something is stuck in it or covering it. This worries me, what if he’s drowning in her muck? I crawl faster, ignoring the scrapes and scratches the pebbles, sticks and rocks below me cause.

“Then think harder! Let me see into your heart…” She pauses briefly. A moment of silence, “What’s that?”

He mumbles again. I pop my head above the grass for a split second to see my distance and lower it immediately after to continue my pursuit. I am almost there. Hold on a little longer Inuyasha.

“What black pearl – Where? We need more than that, go deeper!” This time Jaken replies.

“But Lord Jaken, if I delve deeper his spirit will be broken-”

“I don’t care! Do it!”

Now! Bolting out of the grass, I use my full force to aim for the kappa. He doesn’t see me coming, and I won’t give him the chance too. The moment it is in arms reach I snatch the two headed staff out of his hands and use it like a golf club to knock his tiny body across the pond. He skips like a flat rock a couple of times before ultimately sinking into the dark water below.

“Nice shoot!” Myoga cheers.

But I have no time to celebrate. We’re not done yet. Throwing the staff off into the long grass, I rush for the woman next but unlike Jaken, she knows I am coming and even without eyes or ears, she’s able to hover backwards above the ground and out of my reach. Her colorful kimono flaps like a flag on a windy day, baring more of her naked breasts and revealing more of her stomach where Inuyasha is being sucked into.

I’m only a foot away from Inuyasha’s feet, I am so close. I might have speed but she has air and the closer I get the higher I’m noticing she’s going. My only chance to save him now is to believe in that power I used before with that centipede demon. That odd glowing light that exploded that demon to pieces.

Using all my strength I leap forward, plummeting my entire body towards her while my left hand swings out just in time to clutch Inuyasha’s left hand just before it could be sucked as well. Using his hand as support I pull myself closer to them both, thrusting my right hand straight into her face and allowing the seconds between us for her to suck my hand in just enough for my palm to disappear.

“Eat this!” I scream, a sudden rage fills me and just like that a shotgun explosion comes from my right hand and blasts her head straight off her shoulders and compels Inuyasha and I far from her body. We both land hard on our butts, bouncing along the dirt and grass until finally I fall back onto my back and Inuyasha landing practically on top of me.

Inuyasha coughs frantically like he’s trying to get something out of his throat and groans afterwards in pain. I scoot out from underneath him and look over his body. He doesn’t appear wet or slimy and not at all harmed other than the cough.

Clearing his throat and prolonged growl reaches his lips, “she pretended to be my mother,” he exclaims, more worried about the trickery than what just happened to him. “Where is…” His eyes wander the landscape in search of something, his eyes stop on the headless body that lies in a puddle of blood feet from us. His eyes widen, and he turns his attention on me. “How?”

“I just got angry and the power came from my palm.” I say shrugging. I really have no idea how to control this power but hey, it worked when I needed it.

His brows narrow in concentration, but he doesn’t continue it, he just nods.

“I know where it is now,” an apathetic voice echoes from ahead of us. We both look up but not quick enough. When we do we see Sesshomaru coming at us so fast he’s a white blur until he’s only inches away. In one swift movement he has Inuyasha fully off the ground by the throat with a single hand.

Inuyasha doesn’t squirm, doesn’t even fight it, does he see it futile? Is he still weak from that woman?

All I can do is stare up at them, I know I have no chance fighting off Sesshomaru. The level of power that comes from him is suffocating.

“Of all the places for him to hide it. All this time, beneath our very own noses! Or to be technical above our very noses. Father was determined to keep it a secret, which is why he chose here to hide it.” His right hand cracks and pops at all its joints at his side, the more he talks the more it flexes. The sound is unsettling.

Inuyasha, unaware of this, grabs Sesshomaru’s left wrist that holds him hostage but he can barely squeeze the flesh. He ends up giving up and dropping his hands to his sides once again. “What are you talking about, you’re making no sense at all.”

“Well then, little brother, since it was obviously done without your knowledge, how would you like to come with me and find out?” The cracking stops, his right hand lifts to Inuyasha’s right eye and with two fingers pointed centimeters from Inuyasha’s iris, an electrical charge sparks between them.

Inuyasha screams in excruciating pain; his cries has my heart pumping loud in my chest and in my ears, my breath quickens, red takes over my vision. Below me, my fingers clench into the ground and I can feel it, my fingers and palms heating up just like moments ago with the woman. His free eye closes but his other widens from the shock, unable to close to protect itself.

My eyes flicker back and forth between the two brothers, and though my anger has my powers ready, I know with this demon, it will do hardly any damage and even so, Inuyasha is so close I might cause him pain as well. What can I do? Am I forced to watch this as he suffers?

Slowly, Sesshomaru pulls his right arm back; the electricity stretches like a rubber band until finally a black pearl pops out of Inuyasha’s eye, leaving him without an iris in the amber orb. The electricity stops and with the same hand, he catches the pearl, dropping Inuyasha’s shaking body to the ground.

Inuyasha’s cries of pain stopped when the electricity did, but even as he lands, he shakes in pain. Groans come from him, and one hand claps against his pained eye.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

Before Inuyasha can answer Sesshomaru is quick to continue his prideful discovery. “Seeing, yet never seen. Protected yet never known to its protector. Our father’s tomb, hidden inside a black pearl deep within your eye.” The demon brother smirks while he twists the smooth black marble in-between his thumb and pointer finger.

The power that waved to my hands has diminished and so has the red that blanketed everything. I scramble to my feet and reach a hand out to Inuyasha, he takes it without a thought he uses me as support to get up.

“You pretended she was my mother, all for something like that!”

“Are you not amused?”

Inuyasha drops his hand from his side and charges at his brother with his right hand flexing into a claw, but Sesshomaru’s faster, he leaps with such speed that he blurs again until he stops a story high above us. An amused grin crescents his lips. Taking the pearl from his right hand with his left, he uses his right hand in a thrusting manner at Inuyasha, following the movement a yellow glowing beam congregates.

Just when it was gone, the red flashes once again and before I can control it I’m in-between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru with my arms spread out at my sides in a foolish attempt to protect him. I glare fearlessly up at the powerful demon, rage filling me up so much I can hear myself growl but in return, Sesshomaru’s grin grows.

Our eyes narrow at one another and just as we do the yellow beam cracks like thunder against an invisible force between Sesshomaru and I; where the beam cracked waves of purple ride along an oval dome shape that encloses Inuyasha and I.

                “What the…”Inuyasha says behind me. He says what I am thinking, but there is no way in hell I am tearing my sights off of Sesshomaru. The beam from Sesshomaru’s right hand completely before us disintegrates leaving the powerful demon and I both, in surprise.

                Regardless of the surprise I feel, I refuse to show it. I keep as cool and collected as possible, pretending I know exactly what’s going on so not to give Sesshomaru any advantage.

                “It seems your spiritual energy and powers are stronger than we thought.” Myoga comments at my shoulder.

                You and I both, but does it mean? I think to myself.

                The surprise on Sesshomaru’s face hastily vanishes. He lowers himself slowly while eyeing the now invisible dome, probably wondering the same thing I am: is it still there?

“M’Lord! The staff of skulls is ours once more!”                  Voices the ugly kappa, Jaken. He rummages out from the tall decaying grass, soaked from the pond water. I should have hit him further…He sends a glare my way but not much since his budging yellow eyes can’t show much emotion.

“At least, the moment has come.” Sesshomaru drops the black pearl on the dirt, and like I had before, snatches the staff from Jaken; using the butt of the staff he smashes the pearl. When the two collide the old man’s head on the staff, opens his mouth and bellows out a loud laughter.

“The old man laughs. It means the tomb will open!” Jaken says ecstatic.

Where the staff met the pearl a sudden wide gaping black hole appears, opening wider and bigger with a foggy grey smoke that flows around the edges like a cold fire. A putrid smell of death comes from it, burning my nose hairs just like when I first arrived here in the darkness; I cover my nose in reaction to the stench.

Sesshomaru and Jaken step into the hole, disappearing behind the grey fog and black mass.

“We must move quickly! Before it closes! Do you want your brother to take sole possession of your father’s treasure?!” Myoga screeches from my shoulder, he’s turned towards Inuyasha, but I feel it instead. Sesshomaru almost killed Inuyasha twice now to get to whatever it is their father has. I’m not going to let all that fight go in vain.

I sprint for the portal and only stop when I reach it’s edge to look back at the shocked half demon, “Let’s go already.”

He nods dumbfound and runs to the portal and to my side. He reaches me faster than I sprinted to the portal and when he reaches it, he wraps his right arm around my waist and plunges us through the black abyss.

An icy wind blasts against us, I shiver immediately from the cold and instinctively wrap my arms around Inuyasha to keep warm. All we see is darkness at first, and then it shatters like glass.

The scenery changes dramatically from dark, gloomy and full of death to something out of a fairy tale. This is all too familiar to me. Together we glide down through the clouds to the earth below, green, tall trees scatter the land between enormous bones of many different creatures but one sticks out the most.

A gigantic skeleton with the body of a human and skull of a dog stands tall ahead all the other bones. The beast of a skeleton looks nearly untouched and is clothed with the armor of a samurai. I wonder…if this was what Sesshomaru was looking for…

“Father.” Inuyasha says softly.

I look up at him; his face is saddened but handsome. Different from the anger and irritation I’d grown used too.

Beneath us a skeleton bird three times the size of us both, swoops up toward us and meets us half way from the ground and the sky. We plop down ontop of it, my hands clenching like claws to grip to the bird’s awkward rib cage for dear life. Just as we land the bird screeches and directs us straight through the opening of the skeleton’s mouth and down its throat.

“He’s huge…” I mutter, observing the open gape of his throat that we are not even close to touching.

“They’re huge because he himself, was of incomparable stature. Here he is in his true form, undisguised. There is a sword embedded in his bones – it is this sword Sesshomaru is after.” Myoga informs.

Ironically, before all this, inside Kaeda’s hut, Myoga had no idea who was seeking out Inuyasha’s father’s tomb or what they were after, but suddenly he knows? My eyes narrow at him, and he swallows hard under my glare. “W-what, my lady?”

Out from the throat, we reach the rib cage, comparison to the throat, his belly is huge and void of organs. We have to be at least six stories high from the floor below which is only piles on piles of bones so small that it can’t be of this demon. There, sitting against the spine on a gold circular stand is a thin katana.

It sits, much like King Arthur’s sword from the European legends I read about during world history and standing a yard before it, ready to take the challenge like all those knights, is Sesshomaru and Jaken. What’s so important about that scrap of metal that Sesshomaru tried killing his brother twice for?

The bird comes to a half at the very top of the rib cage, close enough to one of the ribs for Inuyasha and I to stumble onto before it flies back out the throat of the demon. We both keep close to the bone wall, the brown, grey color reminding me of the hair demons nest of skulls.

“At last I shall take possession of the sacred sword. The lethal legendary blade, known to kill a hundred in one stroke, Tetsusaiga.” Sesshomaru’s grin turns twisted, he steps up onto the mantel and reaches with his right hand.

“They say it was forced of the fang from your father’s own mouth…Once you possess the blade, you possess his power as well.” Jaken glistens with happiness.

Sesshomaru’s hand clenches around the worn, ragged handle, but instead of the blade releasing from its sleeping place,  electricity much like the one he used on Inuyasha burns his hand with bluish flames. He refuses to release his hold, his flesh glows blue for a few seconds, burning from the flames until he finally lets go.

Instantly his flesh looks untouched as he pulls away from the sword completely. “Father has done his work well. The blade has been ensorcelled.”

“Sesshomaru!” Inuyasha yells from my side, “We’re not finished yet!” He kicks himself off the bone and towards Sesshomaru, throwing a clawed attack as he gets closer. But like last time, his brother is much too fast, and Inuyasha doesn’t see his movement until he collides with the bones below.

“Be more respectful! It’s our father’s tomb.” Sesshomaru says, reappearing across the stomach from me.

Inuyasha curses, pushing him up from the bones, “Look who’s talking. You’re the one whose robbing his grave!”

“Lord Inuyasha! Do you see it? The blade from your father’s fang! Tetsusaiga!” Myoga says loud enough to cause an echo and gain everyone’s attention to the flea on my shoulder.

“Wha, you mean this piece of junk? It wouldn’t even cut butter, hot!”

“Lord Inuyasha, you must draw the sword. If Sesshomaru couldn’t, that means it’s for you. Your father entrusted the tomb with you, it should be proof enough. Now hurry!”

Inuyasha scoffs at the comment, shaking his head, “For all I care he can keep the rusty piece of junk.”

Grumbling, I roll my eyes at Inuyasha ignorance, “Inuyasha!” I snap; both demons look my way. Inuyasha with shock and Sesshomaru with an unpleased expression. “Look what he’s done to try and get that damn sword! Mind tricks and emotional warfare. Obviously it means something to him so take it instead. Take what he wants!”

A thoughtful look crosses his face for once, but with my comment, I’ve earned narrowed daggers from Sesshomaru. I stumble back against the curve of the rib bone just in case he chooses to attack. To my surprise, he stays still, eyes turning to Inuyasha just as he walks up to the blade.

“Oh, I’ll do it. If only to see the look on your face.” Inuyasha grips the handle, we all lean forward to watch, expecting to see the same fight Sesshomaru had encountered.

Nothing. No electricity, no power, no fight.

“No!” Jaken screams, “Inuyasha is immune to the spell that thwarted Sesshomaru!”

Then Inuyasha starts to pull, at first he only groans, expelling only a small amount of strength until nothing happens. He jumps into using all his strength will both hands, roaring as he’s doing so and as he does the pedestal beneath his feet starts to glow a silvery light but seconds pass and it stops. The blade remains stuck in the stone.

Jaken laughs his crazy, annoying laugh, and Inuyasha turns his anger towards Myoga. “Yo, I couldn’t pull the sword out, could I?”

Myoga chokes up in fear on my shoulder, hiding behind my neck while he shivers.

“Are you done?” Sesshomaru hisses. The full demon charges like a bull at his brother and I roll my eyes when they go back at it. One throws a punch, the other escapes, the other tries to use a claw attack, the other dodges. If this was their father’s sword and neither could pull it, but yet one was the holder of the tomb, what is the missing piece?

Sesshomaru is a demon – like his father and mother. Inuyasha is half demon and half human, this means his mother was human. A demon who loved a human created a hybrid.

Demon. Half Demon…We need a human.

Me.

 

Hesitantly I step to the edge of the rib bone and calculate the safest way down without killing myself. It’s quite a distance, I can really hurt myself pretty badly if I don’t soften my landing. The bones below won’t help either, they’ll move from beneath me or even break when I land, one could go right through me if I land wrong.

Off in the background there is a flurry of red, white and silver and to my right, down below I hear Jaken and his crackly voice annoyingly insulting Inuyasha while he’s fighting for his life.

I glare down at him, biting my tongue from saying anything – because in reality. I can use him. I don’t bother thinking about it, so I just do it. I jump and aim for that small, ugly demon, both feet pointed for his tiny frame. I land perfectly on top of his body and we both go sliding down the bones a little.

Underneath me, he squeaks and squeals in pain from my weight. I glance over myself, half expecting to find a bone sticking out of me but when I see I am unharmed I smile gleefully that my plan worked. Balancing back to my feet I bolt for the sword.

Stepping up to the plate, praying that I am correct, I wrap my hand around that worn handle and rip the blade with ease right out of its resting spot without even a  glow or electricity trying to stop me. It was far easier and quicker than I could ever imagine.

A big smile stretches my cheeks, I peer up at the rusty, chipped blade and am in awe at just how light it is in my grip. Inuyasha may be right about it not cutting butter but I can sense something. A power behind this sword that should be feared or worshipped. Under my fingers it pulses like a heartbeat.

This feels right. Holding this sword, feels right.

Someone clears their throat and I pull my attention from the sword to look around me. Complete silence. Even the two brothers had stopped fighting. They are all staring at something. No.

They are staring at me.   


	11. Chapter 10: A Reason to Fight For

 

Chapter 10: Fight for a Reason

 

                “Ho- How is it – That’s impossible! You’re just a pathetic human!” The imp shouts; sweat drips down his face in streams. His master, Sesshomaru, remains cool and collected, but his eyes speak volumes of uncertain frustration.

                “Hey! Don’t look at her! Look at me!” Inuyasha shouts.

                In milliseconds, out from my peripherals I spot a white blur darting at me with incredible speeds and before I can blink Sesshomaru stands before me inches from my face. The well kept-rage seeps off like summer heat. The man is taller than me, a good foot or two, so looking up at his face requires a strain on the neck.

                “What are you…You are no normal human.”

                “Leave her alone! She’s not involved in this!”

                The demon peels his eyes off me like a bandage on hair, I take the second he does to step back, holding the sword ready at my side just in case I’ll need it to defend myself. Although I’ve never even held a sword before this, the weight and feel, feels natural in my hold. Almost like it is a part of my arm.

                “For some unknown reason I was unable to draw Tetsusaiga, fortunately you were not able to draw it either. It’s obvious she must die.” From what I can tell Sesshomaru hasn’t noticed I’ve moved away but his focus is back on Inuyasha.

                “You’re right, it’s weird she could do it and we couldn’t. But she’s still just a human girl. Keara, give him the sword.”

                “No!” I snap.” He couldn’t pull the blade, so he can’t wield it either! You were able to at least hold it without being shocked.”

                “Inuyasha, your patience with this creature is astonishing to me. To protect her, to indulge her – even seem to love her.” My heart jumps at the very last few words; how can he say that? And so casually as if he knows anything. The grip I have on the hilt tightens; I take another step back until my back is flush against the rib cage. “Certainly these ‘feelings of mercy’ of yours are not something I inherited from our great and terrible father. It must have been that mother of yours, that – human – mother, who caused our father to meet his end in this ignoble place. Her blood affects you as well. Is it that which endears them to you? When it comes to humans, I, of course, bear no such weakness.”

                Sesshomaru twists towards me once again, his eyes a playfully coy glare – instinctively I get defensive under those eyes. Quickly I lift the battered sword in front of me like a pathetic shield of some sort. A little grin forms on his lips, he lifts his right hand, palm towards me and fingers straight. Narrowing my eyes suspiciously at him, a shower of green mists from his palm at me.

                At first it feels like a hot rain against my skin followed by an awful death stench, so foul that I buckle to my knees with the sword above my head facing the spray. The green liquid thickens the more it comes from his palm, enveloping me in a nasty hot slime – the skulls below my feet melt into a heavy thick muck that slowly sucks at my bare feet. The mist hardly burns my skin and feels more like a hot shower that I’d take at home but the smell is nearly unbearable. Before I know it, I’m covered in a grey muck, probably from the rib cage around me melting from the green liquid and the more that packs on the thicker it gets until it dries into a hollow shell around me.

                “Keara,” I hear Inuyasha call, his voice sounds further away now. The smell is so terrible that it burns my nose hairs, I know for a fact that if I open my mouth, I might release the contents in my stomach so I stay still, hoping that the smell will slowly disperse from me and free me from this god awful prison.

                “So fragile, don’t you agree, little brother? How they could have bested….” Sesshomaru pauses briefly, even his voice sounds far away though he’s so close, “But not just humans, half breeds, too.”

                A thundering explosion occurs somewhere nearby, the force so powerful that it rattles the bones that have not melted, beneath me. Through the thicket of the muck, I can still hear the battle going on between brothers; Inuyasha grunts and groans, I can almost picture him fighting in my head with his claws clenched.

                “How can you think with your dirty blood that you are my equal?” Sesshomaru provokes.

                Another thundering impact shakes the bones and even the hollow muck around me but this time, a hair thin crack crumbles up the side of the thick walls. Cool air with a faint light breaks through and I can almost breathe again. 

                “Half breed or full breed, to me it doesn’t matter but when you insult my mother, that’s when I get angry for her sake then, if nothing else, I’m gonna make you pay!” Inuyasha yells. There is movement outside of my shell, the sound of skulls shuffling, the whistling of wind as one brother moves after the other and the taunts they give one another. “That was for my mother!” Inuyasha shouts, “And this, this is for Keara!”

                Hearing him say my name has my heart beating quickly again, but this time is different from before.  It’s like a pulse that releases from me, a wave of some sort, much like my powerful when it bursts from me. The beating is loud in my head, like war drums going off. Somehow, the stench around me doesn’t bother me anymore.

                With the pulses, my body quivers and shakes, at first doing absolutely nothing to help me but as the seconds pass I notice the crack on the sides of the muck grow longer and wider. I think of Inuyasha, his amber eyes as they glare at me when he’s angry or when they are soft, like liquid when he’s content. How, regardless, all he wants from Kagome and I, is the jewel and yet he always protects us.

                The sword above my head vibrates in my hands, I open my eyes to glance up at it and see that the pulsing isn’t just coming from me – but from the sword as well. It’s telling me something…I have to break free.

                With the little strength I can use in such a small space, I push my body against the cracks in the muck. They grow and grow, the more strength the more groaning sounds come from me. And then suddenly, a huge crack splits from the top and pops down the rest of the muck until it cracks and breaks from around me as I stand up from my knees.

                I drop the sword back in front of me, the blade still pulses in my hands, there is a fighting fire in my that makes me feel fierce and dangerous – I glare at Sesshomaru as the brothers stare bug eye at me. The demon lord’s eyes return to normal quickly, and something like a frown ages his face.

                “You’re not…dead.” Inuyasha mutters bewildered on my left. Shaking my head, I kick the rest of the muck down just to prove to Sesshomaru that I’m not so easily dealt with and step out from the hole he had me trapped in.

                “It’s alive,” I say.

                His expression turns to one of confusion, he hesitantly approaches me and as he does I lift the blade in my left hand alone and hand it to him. He stares at the blade, the longer it sits in his hand, the more the pulses fade away. “How are you?”

                “The sword,” Sesshomaru interrupts. “It protected her.”

                “It’s true, those claws of his drip deadly acid poison. It had to be the sword or she would of died. Why not put it to a real test and try it on Sesshomaru?” Myoga finally chimes in after all this fighting; the little flea clings to Inuyasha’s shoulder for dear life but his comment earns a wicked glare from the older brother.

                _Hisssss….._

We all turn our attention back to Sesshomaru; the sound of a snakes hissing mixed with a low rumbling growl comes from deep inside him. His eyes flicker wide open, pools of blood spills into the white of his eyes, twisting around his amber irises until they turn into a vibrant dark blue. Twirling around him out of nowhere comes a gust of wind powerful enough to lift his long silver hair above his head and even sending a full skulls in random directions, colliding them so strongly against the rib cage that they crash and break.

                “Big words for such small vermin. Let’s see if a half breed can even wield the Tetsusaiga. I, myself, shall be the witness.” Sesshomaru’s once regal faces distorts into something monstrous. His teeth turn into elongated fangs that along with his jaw, comes outwards into a dog like nose; beneath him an explosion of blood colored smoke overtakes him completely – bursting from where he stands until it expands so large that it practically takes up the entire stomach cavity.

                Inuyasha takes a single step and already he’s ahead of me, guarding me from the flinging skulls that are suddenly directed at us, but each impact of skulls that hit shatter against him like glass on cement.

                The smoke disperses once it reaches the height of four stories, and behind its cloudy mass reveals a gigantic white dog that looks like he came right out of a mythology book. This is not your average puppy; this dog is the size of a three story building. A long tail sweeps the skulls below, ears flop as if they have their own gravity and on his forehead is his recognizable purple crescent moon.  He growls and roars; the very sound shakes the massive skeleton around us.

                “Now we know his real form. With this sword, I’ll win for sure. I’d say this battles just about finished before it even starts.” Inuyasha swings the rusted blade around with an uncomfortable grip, “Keara, go hide until it’s over.”

                “What?” I raise a brow at him, “Hide?” We are surrounded by a rib cage in a room full of bones with no crevices – there is no place to hide. Even with my confusing and sarcastic question, Inuyasha doesn’t even peer at me over his shoulder. He’s certain on his demand and honestly, I can’t fight that monster of a dog, I have no weapons. Shaking my head, I head to the nearest wall and begin my ascent up the ribs using any knick and crack to pull myself up the great demon’s stomach.

                 Behind me, the demon roars once again, the ribs I hold onto vibrate under my grip but it doesn’t deter me, I’m so swift that in the matter of seconds I can already see the light coming from the gaping hole through the giant’s neck and mouth.

                “This is it, sword! Time to show me what you’re made of!” Inuyasha shouts.

                Again, the skeleton quiver against me turning my weakening fingers into claws of steel that hook to the broken bone with dear life; I pause, glancing over my shoulder down at Inuyasha who swings at the massive monster with a toothpick of a sword. There is no damage where ever the sword meets fur.

                “It didn’t even leave a scratch!” Inuyasha yells, pushing back from the demon as it swings a paw at him, “Myoga! What’s goin’ on? This sword can’t even bruise, let alone cut!”

                This is wrong – all wrong. When the bones melted around me from that acid I was sure that sword pulsed with life. It had power underneath its blade. It can’t be just a pathetic rusty blade. The dog demon is closer to me now, almost against the rib cage below me with purple waterfalls of slimy liquid dripping from all sides of its jaw. Each drop splashed on the skulls below like magma exploding from a volcano, melting the world below just the same. A nauseous gas fills the room, covering the floor with a blanket that both melts and suffocates. It crawls up the ribs with a speed far faster than I can climb. The odor burns the hairs of my nose, itching it – I start to sneeze, dizzying me.

                I kick my body up with my legs and continue my ascent upwards on a much slower pace, having to pause to cough as the green screen of smoke climbs closer to me. Next to me a cloud of grey smoke zips on by only stopping next to my right hand far above my head to look back at Inuyasha. It’s Myoga, with a backpack of stuff tied to his back as if he’s running away from home forever. “I suppose…that, uhmm, it’ll make a lovely heirloom, if nothing else! Besides, it’s  the thought  that counts. Now if you’ll excuse me. Don’t let Sesshomaru push you around, okay?”

                “Hey! Where are you going?!” Inuyasha shouts, but Myoga is out of here faster than I can attempt to snatch him. And I wanted too, he got us in this situation blabbing about that sword and now he’s running! I follow suit after him, focusing solely on the idea of catching that little bug instead of the death smoke that follows me.

                The flat of my feet start to burn, I look down to see the green fog meeting my flesh and the more it crawls up my red pants holes begin to sprout all over as the cloth burns away. “Shit…” I mutter. No matter how fast I go it’ll still get me, I look up and see the neck is only a few more feet away and then I will be in a tunnel of doom where the green smoke could suffocate me.

                I know I can survive it – I did before but this time I don’t have a magical sword in my hand or surrounded by melted bone. I climb, faster and harder than I can, passing the vale between the open cavity and the throat. Luckily, his neck isn’t very long and his head is practically on his shoulders, I am sure from the years of the skeleton sitting still and the sun beating on it.

                The echoes of the two battling is much louder up here than I thought. Their groans and growls are like earphones in my ears playing music. The light burns my eyes now but warms my flesh in the most comforting away as now my calves and knee caps are burning from the gas.

                I reach the top with the way out behind me, a decent size gap separating me from my freedom.  There is no other way for me to reach the other side but to jump and I was never a good sportsman. With my lack of emotion, I lacked the motivation to run or play sports in gym, my legs are weak and I’ve never had to jump for my life. Taking in a deep breath, I glimpse to the other side.

                I don’t have a choice. Just shut up and jump.

                Thinking like a frog, I bring my feet up as high as I can to the core of my body, crouch forward into a ball, taking another deep breath – I push with all my weight and strength off the wall. Instinctively I throw my arms in the direction of the mouth, forcing my body to twist towards the opening just enough for me to catch a ledge.

                BOOM, CRASH!

                The giant skeleton groans as if it is alive, an earsplitting explosions causes the bones to vibrate with such an intensity it literally starts to crumble and move from the impact. My chest collides against a ledge, forcing out all the air in my lungs. Thrusting my arms forward to grasp for anything, my tiny hands grip to a back molar of the skeleton’s mouth. A scream rolls through my chest and past my lips; I bite down to halt it from letting out too much.

                My chest burns, my lungs feel like I’ve been punched a hundred times. My stomach rolls like I’m about to vomit and my hands have caught onto something on this tooth that feels sharp and they may be bleeding. Below me, my legs dangle helplessly. I’m going to die…I feel like I am going to die. My arms struggle to hold my weight and my eyes burn from sweat and tears.

                _Fight…Survive._

The voice is sweet and familiar, it sounds like it is coming from above me. Squinting my eyes through the burn, I can only see the blue sky from the open mouth. No woman, no person. A chilly crisp breeze touches my cheeks; I inhale all that I can take of this sweet freedom. For a split second, I force my eyes shut so tight that the rest of the tears roll down my cheeks, leaving a trail of ice. I need to survive…

                I begin by swinging my legs back and forth, first slowly and then quickly enough for my legs to get close enough to a ridge to catch the edge with my toes. With my hands I pull my chest and stomach over the lower jaw until I am able to roll the rest of the way into the mouth. Relief spreads through my lungs, they ache less now and my hands are covered in small, dirty cuts. I lie on my back staring at the top of the mouth while the breeze chills the rest of my body. Outside I can hear the commotion of a battle, the last bang most have been them exiting the skeleton somewhere.

                A groan leaves my body as I roll onto my side and struggle to stand. My legs wobble but that’s it, I focus solely on exiting the mouth and when I climb over the last bit of teeth, the sun blazes over me and warm me to my soul. The outside world is bright and painful on my eyes, it is the first time I can see myself fully after my climb. The red pants are frayed up to my knees from the acid; my calves are decorated with small bubble like blisters. They burn and ache like no tomorrow. My hands, as I had seen before, are covered in small cuts that are so dirty that they look like tar.

                _RAWR!!_

The ground shaking growl comes from my right, I’m on the shoulder just enough to spot Inuyasha and the Dog demon Sesshomaru, fighting near the edge. Between us is a small forest of baby trees and bushes, I trudge through them with every step a dreadful one as the bushes and trees grab at my legs and arms like hungry hands. Near the two, I see a colossal size hole in the giant’s armor that wasn’t there before.

                They are separated, Inuyasha nearest me and Sesshomaru near the edge. Finally, the dog demon looks a little banged up with a few cuts on its shoulder and arm. “Now do you see the power of Tetsusaiga? You’re giving Sesshomaru, ‘Whatever’. I hope.” Myoga’s nasally voice comes from beside me, I glance over to spot his tiny form perched on a leaf of a bush a few feet away.

                Inuyasha glowers back at the both of us then, his eyes pause on me, his eyes fall to my legs and as they do I follow his line of sight to find that my red pants are burnt up to my upper thighs, my calves and kneecaps are bloodied and blackened from the acid mist. Now that I see them in the light, the damage is more real and the pain rows over me. I bite down on the inside of my cheek to prevent the pain from showing on my face.

                He pulls his eyes from my legs and looks back over to Myoga, “Where’ve you been?! This thing’s ‘bout as useful as a walking stick.”

                Suddenly, the dog demon lurches forward, massive paws release their sharp claws as he comes down towards Inuyasha.  Inuyasha’s white ears twitch, just in time his eyes shoot up and he leaps backwards towards us. “What am I going to do?” He questions, mostly to himself.

                The blade seems less alive now than it did when it was under the melted sludge with me. There is no pulse and it appears to be a normal, rusted blade – but I know it lives. I felt it alive in my palm but I was fighting for my life…At the time all I was thinking was survival, to get out and to help Inuyasha. I thought nothing else.

                “You have to believe in something, you need something to fight for. The blade can sense it. It was pulsing in my hands when I felt the need to fight!”

                “It pulsed?” He asked, he turns partly to me, eyes soft as liquid.

                My heart beats loud in my chest; I can taste the tasteless lump in my throat when our eyes meet. “Like a beating heart.”

                A thundering snarl erupts from Sesshomaru once again, regaining our attention; his large form steadily walks towards us like an elegant dance. Inuyasha tightens his grip around the handle and he repositions himself into a fighting position.

                “She’s right Inuyasha, your father made that sword, he made it with you and your mother in mind.” Myoga finally chimes, this time; he’s made it to my shoulder.

                “To protect us…” Inuyasha repeats in a whisper. He looks over the blade in awe, even with the blade covered in rust, there is a shine behind the orange that shows it still lives beneath the dark. He glances back at me again, this time over his shoulder but with a much more thoughtful and warm expression than before. I’m afraid to say anything that I might distract whatever deep thought is on his mind regardless of the towering beast heading our way. It is his moment. He needs to find his strength and connection to the sword.

                Just like that, without another spoken word, he turns his attention back to his brother and starts walking towards the incoming beast. The beast growls at this, his tongue flailing about at the sides of his mouth like hunger flames.

                “Yeah, yeah, growl to you too buddy. Let’s get this over with.” Inuyasha swings the blade to his side in a ready position and when he does, the blade pulses letting off small waves that fly outwards. Without time for any of us to react to this, the beast leaps high into the air and dives back down towards Inuyasha with one paw stretched out for him. Four sharp talons glisten in the sun and my heart jumps into my throat.

                “Now!” Inuyasha shouts, on time for him to leap up towards the incoming mass that shadows in him seconds. At his side, the sword bursts into smoke, and as the smoke disperses a large fang-like blade is left in its place. He swings the fang with ease towards the paw that nears him, in seconds, blade meets flesh, shredding through the giant dog’s arm with a brilliant trail of light following. When the blade reaches the nape of the shoulder, Inuyasha twists it and off pops Sesshomaru’s left arm.

                The arm collides onto the shoulder of the skeleton; blood splatters everywhere like rain, droplets just barely reach at my bare feet. Not too long after, Sesshomaru lands face first into the shoulder plate and skids along the metal with a shuddering bang. His red eyes are wide with surprise. A few feet from his jaw Inuyasha lands with a grin of pride. The blade at his hand has steam hovering from the clean metal.

                “It’s a fang. The ol’ man really did leave something worthwhile.”

                Sesshomaru scrambles to his other three feet, struggling as his limbs wobble beneath his now awkward weight. Where the arm is missing, blood comes down like thick red waterfalls.

                “So here we are two brothers fightin’ over father’s sword, compared t’ him you an’ me are nothing. Don’t you get it? We’re like a couple of fleas jumpin’ around on his body. So what if I don’t have any memories of him. It was me father chose to hide his tomb in. I’d rather give up an eye than give up his sword.”

                Sesshomaru lurches forward with a roar louder than any before. Inuyasha reacts by rushing for him, swinging the glowing blade with his right hand and aiming for the beasts’ chest. The fang collides with him once again, leaving a brilliant light where the strike wounds, sending the beast with enough force, to fly off the skeletons remains and down to the world below.

                The imp screams, “Lord Sesshomaru!” And as he does the beast implodes into a small orb that glows a white light, it dances in the air for a second like an elegant faerie before jolting off away from the skeleton. The imp scurries after the orb in a panic rush.

                Inuyasha lands down next to me, planting his sword into the shoulder of his father. He looks exhausted but satisfied; a little grin marks his cheeks. “I take it back. The swords not such a piece of junk.”

                “You see? I was right, of course if you’d listen earlier, you’d never have –“ Myoga’s cut off, Inuyasha’s finger comes down upon him and smashes him against my shoulder. His smile falls when he looks at me and a more serious expression follows stead.

                “Are you ok? You went through a lot today.”

                Now that everything is at calm, and he’s brought my attention back to my own body, I can feel the tang of pain that runs through my legs. It is a hot sensation, a burning that can’t be described. Though I should be crying, I can’t feel the tears at my lids, only the satisfaction of winning a battle against someone that felt to terribly powerful to defeat.

                “I’ll be fine.”

 

                “Ye wielded  the sword?”

                We all sit around the fire pit watching as a pot of stew boils in the center. The only one not present is Inuyasha. After we returned back to this realm, the pearl that had sent us to the land of the dead, appeared in the sky and fell into Inuyasha’s eye, returning his iris and his sight. We walked back to the village in silence, the blade returned to its normal shape and now secure around Inuyasha’s waist where it much belongs. He didn’t stay long, only long enough to explain everything that went on and where we were off too.

                “And heard it pulse. It felt alive. Like a living being.”

                Kaeda and Kagome look at each other in surprise.

                “My theory is that it’s because Keara is mortal. Don’t forget Tetsusaiga was forged by Lord Inuyasha’s father as a way to protect his mortal mother. It was his feelings towards mortals that allowed Lord Inuyasha to wield it effectively. For someone like Sesshomaru, who only hates humans, wielding Tetsusaiga was impossible.” Myoga states.

                “Is it just a demon thing to hate humans? Or does he have  a reason?” I ask. The hate that came off that man was an energy I’d never felt before – almost like a wave that developed the power he had at the same time.

                Myoga shrugs all four shoulders, “I don’t know much about Sesshomaru’s past. It’s typical for demons to dislike and feed on humans but he has a special hate for humans that even his father troubled over.”

                Sesshomaru and Inuyasha’s father was a powerful demon Lord one that Myoga even admitted was the most powerful to have existed and yet he hated no humans that he ran into. Obviously with Inuyasha being a half demon so why does Sesshomaru, a demon of the same blood line, would hate humans with so much anger?

 

 

                My legs are as stiff as rocks; I’m almost walking like a zombie with how they won’t bend. Kagome was no medical aid, she wrapped my legs to the best to her ability but we had to do it over twice because the first time was cutting circulation. I can’t complain, I wouldn’t have been able to do it myself. I can’t even reach my toes. All those years of sitting in the corner during gym has back fired on me.

                Kagome and I have been slowly making our way to the outskirts of town for at least ten minutes now. She surprises me with a bright smile every minute and half, when she turns towards me and patiently waits for me to wobble towards her like a learning toddler. I like this Kagome, but something doesn’t seem right. She’s been really quiet since the moment we’ve returned only speaking up here and there to add on to the questions Kaeda has asked. And then after all of it, she asked if she could speak to Inuyasha and I alone. We’ve been on this walk ever since.

                We finally see Inuyasha on a branch about half way up a tree around a corner. He’s swinging the now back to normal sword as if he’s swatting at flies. There is a bit of irritation on his face, maybe he’s been doing this since we’ve gotten back?

                As we approach closer to the tree, Kagome takes in a deep breath and shakes a little. My eyes narrow as I watch her nerves get to her suddenly. “Inuyasha?”

                “Huh?” He responds, his swings come to a stop and he looks down at us with surprise. He must have not heard us coming. Ironic – half demon.

                The nervousness spreads to Kagome’s hands; they retreat from where they sat against her back and rub against each other in front of her. She kicks the dirt and lets out another long, exhaled sigh. “I know this has all been my fault – the jewel shattering and all. I want to help but I’m no good at fighting and not being caught,” you can say that again. She clears her throat and sorrowfulness drains her visage. This must have been bothering her this entire time when Inuyasha and I had just suddenly disappeared… “What I’m trying to say is, I think my help would be better if it came from the present. I can stay home, go to school and leave the jewel here with you guys. In the present, I can gather food, medical supplies, clothes, and any other necessities and once a week or a couple of days, Inuyasha can come pick them up.”

                Inuyasha and I look at one another, his more suspicious where as I am more happy. Her leaving will benefit our journey but it will also provide us things we can’t get here. She can stock up on items that can be super beneficial…I could even ask for history and demon books to help with identifying some of the enemies we may run into. Plus there are no feminine products here in this time period.

                “Maybe it’s for the best…” I break the silence, earning a raised brow from the half demon. Kagome’s eyes are wide in shock as she stares at me with an almost puppy look. Did she expect me to say no out of the two of us? “It will help…Just send us a notepad and a pen so I can write things we may need. There isn’t any hygienic items here for a girl and I could use some history and demon books to identify with what we’re up against.”

                Inuyasha grumbles, “Fine, but you better have all that crap together when I come. I don’t want to be wasting any time in the present when all the jewels are here in the past.” He sheathes his sword and crosses his arms.

                “I will have all the stuff together in a few days, I promise! I don’t want to not help, I just feel like I am better help there than here.”

                “It’s okay, Kagome. Really.” I assure.

                She twirls fully to me; suddenly she quieting her voice and leans forward towards me with a somber expression on her face. “Do you…” She starts, pauses for what I think is to rethink what she’s about to ask. “Do you want me to inform your foster parents?”

                My heart drops, the blood drains from my face. I had forgotten all about them…So many families, so many faces that blurred together before I went to sleep at night. None that really cared and those that tried gave up in days. The family I was with now was never really home. They worked constantly and only accepted me in because the agent that worked with me at the foster home was related to them and felt bad I was back for the number of times. Out of the peripherals of my eyes I spot Inuyasha staring at me with a look of curiosity and sadness – like he already knew. Was it because he was listening to me a couple of days ago? About my past…I don’t remember mentioning this family but he must have figured…I think.

                A lump fills my throat and all I can do is shake my head.

                “You sure?”

                “She said no.” Inuyasha pushes.

                “I was just asking! You never know.”

                I take a second to clear my throat a couple of times, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about them.”

                “Well…Okay.”

               

 

 


	12. Chapter 11: The Toad and The Princess

   I am so sorry this chapter took so long. I think it was due to the fact I absolutely hated this episode and chapter in the entire Inuyasha series and with my character not being Kagome – I was trying to find the most logical and most ‘Keara’ way of handling this particular situation. But it’s finally finished! And I also have a more solid schedule now so I should be able to get back to writing.  
    Again, truly sorry!  
    Also, forgive any misspellings. My last labtop broke and I had to get a new one that doesn’t have microsoft word. I am in the process of getting it soon so I have no spell check!

 

**Chapter 11: The Toad and the Princess.**

 

   It has been three very long days since Kagome left the group, she was gone that very hour after our discussion and sent Inuyasha back from the present with a yellow bag full of food, medical supplies, personal care and any history books she had that she was leant from her grandfather. That night, we fed in comfortable silence without the constant questioning of Kagome and slept without fear of her being kidnapped. It was absolutely blissful. I didn’t have a problem with Kagome, just her actions, she seemed like a genuinely nice person and I am sure she is. It is just better this way…isn’t it? The next day Inuyasha and I left the village to hunt for the rest of the shards and for two days now we’ve traveled from village to village through thick forests and dirt roads and I have felt absolutely no aura from the jewel anywhere. I’m starting to believe that the only reason why I felt anything to begin with had to do with Kagome being nearby. What if we’ve made a mistake? Maybe I am the useless one….

  
    I cradle the small vial that holds the shards we’ve found in the palm of my hand; the glass is cold to the touch but every few seconds a wave of warmth creeps from the inside outward from the shards. Each time the warmth touches my skin a wave of heat rolls through the rest of me, leaving me confused and bewildered.  
   

   “It’s been three days,” Inuyasha groans. When I look up at him, his head rolls back and forth between his shoulders. I clip the vial back onto the chain and string it around my neck for safe keeping. I shoulder the heavy yellow bag and try to smile when he glances back at me. On his left shoulder sits Myoga, who decided to join us on our journey for now, in reality he’s done nothing but whine about every little ache and pain or shadow that he feels or sees.

  
    “At least it is nice out.” And it is; clear blue skies and a breeze with a soft chill rolls over us occasionally. It feels pleasant against the red pants I wear; their light material is gentle against my wounds. Kagome couldn’t offer me any clothes from her own collection, our different sizes would have been to uncomfortable but she was able to bring me a pair of tennis shoes of her mothers. The white shoes against the red pants almost blend in like the socks and sandals normally worn with this garb. I glance down at my feet, as I do, I run right into a wall full of muscle. Inuyasha has stopped dead in his tracks, unaffected of me bumping into his back.

  
    Stepping around him I watch his expression, I’ve come to learn that I can pretty much read what he is thinking from his facial movements alone. His eyes are concentrated forward but his ears are flickering as if listening. After a second of this his eyes turn towards his left. We are surrounded by trees, traveling mostly through the forest since we suspect demons would be the culprits that’d be using the shards but just beyond where he stares is a small village I can see from here. Between the dirt road and us is a bush line, and sitting behind it is a young man with a small monkey on his shoulder. He seems unaware of our presence and is focused on the villagers on the dirt road next to the village.

  
    “Haven’t they taken enough young women away from our village already?” A man from a small crowd says. The group is full of elderly gentlemen and they seem to keep a good distance from a line another group of younger gentlemen on horses and line of young women with rope tied around their wrists. My eyes follow the rope to one of the horses, where on top a man tugs it tight, pulling the girls forward just for his amusement. He smiles a yellow grin and chuckles under his breath, non of the other men seem to care. They tie another young girl up on the back of the line. “Of all the girls summoned to the castle, not one has yet returned…”

  
    I’ve heard of this happening. Not here, not in this time but from the history books Kagome offered me. Late at night I’ve been reading while Inuyasha sits in silence.      Sometimes he’ll dose away and I am left in the darkness with just the fire and a book to keep me company but that doesn’t bother me. If I can’t sense the shards I can at least educate myself on what we may be getting ourselves into. It’s common though, girls being taken to castles – by bandits or by soldiers. Men are hungry not only for food but for pleasure and most times these young girls are taken and never seen again because they are forced into slavery or prostitution.

  
    Inuyasha leads the way to the boy with the monkey; I follow his movements like a shadow, unsure on exactly what we can do against a group of men who are stealing women. Sure, Inuyasha can beat them without pulling out his sword but he’s always admitted to be unbothered by the likes of anything beyond his care.

  
    “I knew it…” the boy whispers under his voice, “So the rumors are true after all.” His hands clutch into fists as his tone turns from curious to enrage. He is oblivious to our approach but the tiny white monkey on his shoulder turns his head ever so slowly to us, his wide eyes buggy in an almost creepy cute kind of way.

  
    The group of older gentlemen bundle closer together, mumbling into each other’s ears in secrecy, I can just barely hear what they are saying now but I do catch a few words, “Lord…Possessed…Demon.”

  
    “Demon?!” Inuyasha starts, frightening the boy that is now inches ahead of us. He doesn’t have a moment to react to our sudden intrusion, Inuyasha leans forward with his foot ontop of the boy’s head, pushing him down head first into the bushes he was hiding behind. Luckily, Inuyasha’s outbursts doesn’t gain the attention of any of the men or ladies on the path, otherwise I am not sure how they’d respond to the half demon if another is possessed. The monkey frets at his owners side, hopping on two feet with his hands in the air as he squeaks, his master groans under the half demons’ foot, not even able to say a word if he wanted too.

  
    “Inuyasha,” I sigh; he glances back at me and I nod to the boy below his feet. The half demon rolls his eyes and lifts his foot, stepping back at my side as he glowers at the people on the road.

  
    “What are they talking about?” He questions the boy; not given him a moment to sit up before pestering him for answers.

  
    The kid sits back up, face red and covered in dirt but thankfully not bleeding. Now that we are close enough I can get a better look at the kid; he’s young but not so young – maybe a year younger than me or older? I can’t tell exactly since apparently people’s ages and how they look are completely different from the present day. Inuyasha for example is in the hundreds and he looks eighteen…but then again he’s part demon.

  
    “Who are you people?!” the kid wipes his face and grumbles.

  
    “I’m Keara, this is Inuyasha,” I start, patting Inuyasha’s right shoulder, “Do you mind telling us what’s going on?”

  
    The way he looks at us is like we are aliens from outer space, “You don’t know?” He arranges himself into a cross legged seated position, and observes us with wide eyes. When we don’t respond, he continues, “they’ve been sending girls to the palace nearby but they never return. They just disappear.”

  
    No returns? The line of girls beyond the bushes all have their heads down, inexplicable sorrow on their faces like they know their own ending. The ropes on their wrists are so tight I can see the flesh turn to pink right before my eyes from where I am standing. As sick as it is…this was normal during this time period. Plenty of greedy men with power would take the innocence of women and even young boys, at least those were the claims history channels told and not so much the school books. Even outside of Japan, this was a norm. One countess took around 600 young girls just to bleed them dry for her own personal youth.

  
    “They’ve been summoned. I need to get to the palace; they have a friend of mine.” He continues, putting emphasis on the word need. The surprise that filled his eyes is now drowned by the same amount of sorrow as the girls in the line.

  
    “It has to be a demon.” Inuyasha retorts, “It’s no wonder none of them have returned.”

  
    A demon? I look up at him with a raising brow. Does he not realize humans can do this as well? But then…I glance back at the girls and the human soldiers. If it were for a human, there would most likely be more soldiers, spouting lies about taxes or schooling, and not the lack of reasoning on taking them. Just being summoned? If it is true, these girls are being sent to their doom and no one is doing anything about it. No one realizes just where those girls are going and what to.No one is helping them.

   This isn’t right…I won’t let this continue. No more innocent lives will be sacrificed to a demon if I know about it. Without another word being said, I shrug off the heavy yellow back pack and it makes a loud thud when it lands on the ground behind me. I climb over the bushes separating us from the crowd and race for the soldiers.  
I hear Inuyasha behind me, shouting, “Hey, where are you going?” But I refuse to look back, afraid that I will change my mind. I don’t plan on fighting them, I know I will lose, but I am caught – with the jewel still on me – it’d force Inuyasha to come for it. If there is a demon controlling this situation, he’ll feel incline to kill it. One less problem in the world, and several saved souls.

  
    “One was trying to escape!” Shouts the man on the horse. The horse fights beneath him, lifting to its hind legs and kicking its front as the men on the ground start after me.

  
    “Oh, no you –.”

  
    Inuyasha begins. I shoot a glance in his direction, hoping that my expression plays right on my face for him to stop. His mouth shuts, his amber eyes wide, and his nails digging into palms as he fights to keep from going after the guards.

  
    The second I am in arms reach, the two soldiers’ hands claw at my white top and drag me towards the line of girls. Their innocent eyes watch me with surprise; I don’t even think they thought they could escape. One man snatches both my wrists, his hands rough with my skin as he darts the rope around my wrists. He pulls tight, squeezing my flesh between the bristles of the rope. It hurts so much that I have to shut my eyes and bite my tongue from giving into scream. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this…

  
    “Let’s get going before they think of some other brilliant plan.” That said, the man on the horse kicks the beast beneath him and forces us all forward into a tug of war line. Some of the girls are too weak to walk the speed required, their feet drag on the ground kicking pebbles all over. I take one final glance back at Inuyasha, his fists drip with blood and his teeth are tight behind his lips. He’s angry.

  
    ‘Come find me.’ I mouth, the words never leaving my mouth so the men don’t see him, but I make sure to pronounce it enough in hopes he can read them. He nods once…

 

*---

  
    It is an hour after night fall when we reach the palace. Along the way, we’ve had to slow due to a few of the girls collapsing and their bodies dragging. The man on the horse stopped, and the two others, butted the girls unconscious with the back of their swords. They threw their bodies like limp sacks of flour onto the back of the horse and we were forced to continue on a slower rate so the rest of us could keep up pace. They obviously want us alive otherwise they wouldn’t waste their time.

  
    My feet throb within my white shoes, my wrists are blistered and bleeding. I can’t imagine what the others must be feeling. They have no shoes on, and after an hour or two of walking, I started noticing blood patches on the dirt as I walked. The worse feeling of all – is that odd twisting that I felt when I was first taken away from Inuyasha the day I arrived in the Feudal Era. The farther and farther I was chased away, the worse the twisting got. It was breathable then…But now; I am finding it hard to use my lungs. The twist is mid-way in my chest, coming from no single organ but from all of them at once. I don’t understand.

  
    Why didn’t I feel this when I was in the present? Why did this only occur after I saw him for the first time? And what does it mean?

  
    The palace looms in the darkness, a foreboding structure with few fire lit lamps decorating the walls and showing us how towering it is. The building has to be at least 3-4 stories, impressive for what I’ve seen so far in this era. The walls are white but still so dark against the navy blue to black sky behind it. As we pass through the gate entering the palace’s court yard, I immediately noticed that all the men, except for the ones leading us, are sleeping up against the walls, trees and statues. They snore with their arms hugging their spears and swords against their chests. The three seem completely unphased, as if this is a normal occurrence.

  
    We come up to the palace doors, their ornately decorated wood creaks open to an eerie quietness beyond and as they open I feel it….

  
    A dark and severe demonic aura that covers the light sensation of the sacred jewel beneath it. Inuyasha was right…It is a demon…and it has a shard. The aura isn’t as powerful as Sesshomaru, but it is stronger than all the demons we’ve faced so far.

  
    The girls ahead of me start to whimper the closer we come to the palace’s open doors, a cold chill hits our broken flesh as we walk up the two steps onto the deck that follows along the palace walls. Once on the deck, the horse rears off to the side and the rope is dropped from the saddle. The two men both grab at the end and tug us forward into the interior of the palace which is far darker than the outside.

  
    “Come on!” They yell, tugging us like cattle. The man on the horse slides off one side and begins to drag body after body of the girls who are unconscious and drops their limp bodies on the deck with hollow thumps.

  
    “You let her go!” The sound of feet thumping on the wooden deck comes from our right. Inuyasha bounds towards us, sword unsheathed and battle ready. The horse screams, kicking its feet before rushing down the steps and disappearing into the court yard. The men drop the rope, their force no longer keeping the line forward as some of the girls almost fall backwards from the slack. Now that they are distracted, I push the ropes off my wrists as they loosen. Skin peels off with the rough fabric, and blood starts to drip down my hands once again.

  
    The men shout and yell, as their swords collide with Inuyasha but fail. Their metal splits and breaks, leaving them falling back on their butts before turning to their sides and crawling away as fearful as the girls were when they were forced into the line to begin with.

  
    The girls are unmoving, eyes wide and in shock as they watch the men run away and as Inuyasha approaches us. “Go, go now!” I scream at them, not at all sure if there were more soldiers within the palace that may come. My voice causes them to shutter, they awaken from their shocking fear and also push off the ropes before rushing back through the gates to the outside world.

  
    “That was a really stupid thing you did.” Inuyasha says, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms.

  
    “I had to do something,” I reply, rubbing my wrists instinctively and accidentally spreading the blood while doing so. I wipe the thick liquid onto my red pants, “You were right, there is a demon here and there is also a shard of the jewel.”

  
    “You do know we could have come here together?”

  
    “Hey! Wait for me!” Shouts the boy from earlier. He’s racing towards us from the other end of the deck where Inuyasha had come from. His little monkey holding on for dear life on his shoulder.

  
    I glance at him with a raised brow and then back to Inuyasha, “let’s face it, you wouldn’t have came.”

  
    Without another word from him I head into the cold, dark entrance of the palace. “What does that mean?!” He grumbles from behind me, following close in suit.

 

\--*

  
    The palace is larger than it looked from the outside. It seems to have hundreds of rooms most of which are empty and others full of elegant fixtures,royal silks, tea cups, pillows, weapons, scrolls and more. Each step takes me back in time to a period I keep forgetting I am lost in but it’s a world I also feel the most comfortable.

  
    Nobunaga is a few yards ahead of us, ripping open the sliding doors and plummeting in each room like a bullet from a pistol. He hasn't thought twice on the possibility that a guard could pop out of any of these rooms or that the very demon, holding this place hostage could be behind one. But it is strange. Since the entrance of the palace, all we've seen of guards, were ones that were lying about the floors or sitting against walls, all appearing as if they were sleeping, hugging their weapons like teddy bears. Its unnerving.

  
    "Thank you - for following me." I mutter out, finally feeling the very heavy emotion of guilt. Since I started to receive parts of my soul back, emotions have come at me in ways I've never felt before. I was apathetic, hollow with nothing but grey, white and black tunes to color my world and now - rainbows of colors living up my life. I've never felt guilt before.

  
    I don't need to look up at Inuyasha to tell that he's watching me. My fingers run along my swollen and open wounds nervously under his gaze. "Whatever," he says at first, "when I defeat this guy, we have to get some herbs for those wounds. You're still bleeding all over the place."

  
    It seems like ever since I've arrived here I've gotten hurt. I still have yellow bruises since the first day.

  
    "Princess?!" Nobugana shouts. Up ahead, he's slung open another door but this time, he pauses. From here I can see his eyes are wide and his mouth has dropped. We've found who we were looking for. He finally snaps out of his in shock state, and rushes in. Inuyasha and I keep to our pace, unless we hear screams of 'demon.' Coming from the room, then we are not needed.

  
    When we finally reach the room, we keep outside in the hall and watch from the open view. On the ground lies a beautiful young woman wearing quite a few kimonos, suggesting she's of royality. the top kimono is ornately decorated with yellow flowers open a regal red silk. Her large brown eyes are not as surprised as Nobunaga but at the same time, bewildered. A softness only maintained from learning discipline and control - I'm sure.

  
    "Princess Tsuyu! You remember me?"

  
    The princess smiles, her entire face brightens up when she does, softening the features she has even more so than before. "Of course I do. I'll never forget. You and I were friends as children and you were always so very kind."

   
    Nobunaga blushes, fiddling with his fingers nervously as his monkey mocks his masters actions. "I just thought you wouldn't remember a lowly vassal like me."

   "I remember everything. How you'd slip and fall in the pond, how I'd laugh and laugh when you fell in horse dung."

  
    The boys face goes from glowing with excitement to complete embarrassment. Only a few uncomfortable sounds leave him, as the princess giggles in reminisce.

  
    "Pathetic." Inuyasha mutters beside me.

  
    "Oh, like you haven't been in love..."I sarcastic reply, rolling my eyes. Kicking off the wall, I was leaning on, I step towards the entrance and pop my head in. "Quick question, your royalness - how'd you end up here?"

  
    There has to be an explanation for all the young girls disappearances and the demonic aura that seeps from the entire palace walls. Lets not include the fact that the jewel is somewhere in this castle and I need to find it before another demon comes running in.

  
    "It was shortly after I came here as his bride that my Lord-husband began to act strangely. He'd fallen into the garden pond, and ran a terrible fever. It was as though he had become a different person."

  
    Pond, fever? I've heard of illnesses changing peoples moods - and I would love to just believe it was that. That this man is just sick. I sigh - but that's not the case. The demonic aura is getting stronger the longer we wait here.

  
    "You must return to Kai! Your father, whose so far away from here, has heard of the Lord's derangement. It was his wish i come, that you might be returned to him."

  
    "My fathers orders?"

  
    "Even if he had not ordered it, I would somehow have come." Nobunaga becomes fierce in his words, lifting up a fist as he spoke with readiness in his eyes.

  
_**Creaaaakkkk. Creakkk...**_

  
    The wood planks creak and groan underneath weight behind us, I glance over my shoulder down the hall to spot a large figure coming our way. It wears a dark kimono, with faint hints of colors and decorations I can't quite pick up from this distance but what I can spot was the wrapping of white bandages that covers the entire head of the creature.

  
    It's not human. A demonic aura comes off this beast, and its the very aura that I've been sensing.

  
    "I thought I heard something." It is male, voice cracking much like Myoga's but with something a little different. Like a croaking, behind the words.

  
    "Yeah, it took ya long enough." Inuyasha replies.

  
    The beast opens a gape between the bandages, and out comes a long pink whip like substance that shoots out at Inuyasha with incredible speed. But Inuyasha is quicker, he has his claws out and ready to attack. With a single leap he ends the distance between them and slices at the bandages with such precision that the beast's face is free from marks and only the bandages end up in shreds.

  
    The demon falls back with a loud thump, a croaking exits his mouth and echoes down the hall. In place of what the bandages were hiding is a green and white frog head the size of what a normal frog's head would be if it were the size of a human man. Big red round eyes stare at us with rage.

  
    I shudder at its appearance, I absolutely find frogs and toads disgusting and slimy - I hate anything that is slimy - even wet hair on the tubs tile when showering bothers me a bit. Not that I wouldn't clean it, it just has me gagging a little.

  
    Nobunaga and the Princess step out next to me, both with stunned expressions.

  
    "M'Lord?" The princess mumbles out, the next thing I know, she faints into Nobunaga's arms and he holds her close.

  
    "Princess, don't worry, I have you!"

  
    _'Keara....'_ A familiar voice calls to me, the one I've been hearing...The woman in my dreams and woman I hear when a shard is close. _'Keara....'_ She sings again. There is no denying the presence of a shard - I sensed it the moment I came close to the palace, but if I am hearing her voice, the jewel is closer than it appears. Squinting my eyes I focus in on the demon ahead of us, only spotting a faint purplish glow when the toad starts to sit up from the ground. It brightens the more he stands, cornering in at his right shoulder.

     
    "He has a shard, right shoulder."

  
    The very words puts a grin on Iuyasha's face, he cracks his fingers by clenching them. "Lord Inuyasha!" Shouts another familiar voice. Long has he been quiet if he's been here but I'm sure this is his first appearance since I didn't notice Myoga on Inuyasha's necklace before."He's the ninety-ninth toad of the ninety-ninth generation. He's stronger than he looks."

  
    "He's just a toad..." I mumble, shuttering again as I glance over the demon. God, he's ugly. "He's no god."

  
    Inuyasha chuckles and nods, "She's right Myoga, one good punch should do it."

  
    "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no." Myoga repeats, leaping from Inuyasha's beaded necklace to my shoulder. He buries himself behind strands of my dark hair and peers out only to watch as Inuyasha leaps forward again for his attack.

  
    The demon cranes his head back, shutting his mouth tight. His cheeks bloat, filling up with what seems like air and at its peak, right before Inuyasha is about to come down, he shoots his head forward and opens his mouth, releasing a purple smog that fumigates the entire hallway.

  
    It's enough to throw Inuyasha back from him, and reach my nose in the matter of seconds. It burns the hairs in my nose, and smells foul and disgusting, curdling the acid in my stomach like rotten milk. I cover my mouth with the sleeve of my white miko shirt, and stumble back. The smog, sticks to my skin like someone elses sweat. Even through the sleeve the gas seeps, catching in my throat and tickling it till I start coughing.

  
    "We have to get out of here, Keara, run!" Myoga yells into my ear.

  
    No. I shake my head and glance through the smog to spot Inuyasha on the ground coughing. I start forward for him but as I do the toad demon passes by him and heads in our direction. Beside me Nobunaga sits on the ground, his arm firm around the princess as another covers his face.

  
    Nobugana reaches for a sword that was well hidden at his side, but just as the sword unsheathes, the pink projectile shoots from the toad's mouth - now realizing its the tongue of the demon - it penetrates Nobunaga's shoulder. The force slides him a good distance, forcing him to release Tsuyu as she tumbles to the floor. The tongue retreats and the toad quickly picks up the princess and slings her over his shoulder like a rag doll.

  
    "Hey!" I shout, throwing my hands up in a fighting stance, my fists clench will dry blood crusted all over. "Let her go!"

  
    He glances at me from the corner of his eyes, a wicked smile forming on his face. What is he smiling about? I ask myself. The smog thickens, seeping down my throat and into my chest where it becomes unbearable to breathe. I inhale deeply, accidentally inhaling more fumes than I intended. I fall back onto my butt, covering my mouth once again as the image around me blurs. Shit. Myoga was right.

  
    The wooden floor creaks, loud at first and as the seconds pass, it quietens.

  
    "Keara, stay here!" Inuyasha shouts. Following after his comment I hear the softer patting of running feet on the wooden floor; the floor boards don't creak under his weight. There is a crash and the sound of the foot patting disappears.

  
    "Princess!" Nobunaga shouts. A groan follows after, he must be in pain. I look up in the direction of his voice just barely seeing a foggy figure in the background of the blurriness. From the looks of it, he's still down for the count.

  
    The air is clearing up, the once smoggy thickness of the air is less than before and the smell has dissipated. I hesitantly remove my hands from my face and breathe in small and slow. My lungs are still burning but its not from the intake. Unable to see properly, I struggle to crawl towards Nobunaga's figure, reaching out for him as I approach and gently using his left hand as a guide the rest of the way.

  
    "We have to save the princess," he starts.

  
    "Inuyasha has this...." My voice is much quieter than I anticipated it to be. Clearing my voice I start again, this time I can tell my voice will be more normal, "Your shoulder is hurt, you running after her might prove failure."

  
    "But..."

  
    "Listen. I know you love her, its not hard to tell, but you can't go just risking yourself without thinking. We need to let Inuyasha do this. Now I will help you walk and you can be my eyes until I get my vision back."

 

\--*

  
    "We're right behind him," Nobunaga says. We've been walking for a few minutes now, following Inuyasha destructive trail. Nobunaga leans on me like a crunch while I fail to see a foot ahead of me. The longer I've remained outside the better my vision has gotten but not enough to lead myself. He tells me to step, and I step. My foot meets another wooden surface, we've been mostly outside since our adventure.

  
    "Sealed like toadspawn just as the rumors said. Young women kept in egg-sacs until their souls ripen, then eaten. With the power of the jewel-shard and the young lord's position. No one could oppose him." Myoga says at my ear.

  
    Ahead of me I can see blurs of colors. First Inuyasha's red outfit and his silver white hair. He's not to far ahead of us, and beyond him orb-like structures that are blue and green masses.

  
    Suddenly, I'm not as heavy as I was before, Nobunaga slips out of my arm and is off in the distance, mixing with the colors ahead of me. I hear multiple foot steps all rushing somewhere, from the mixing of blurs, I am assuming towards the enemy.

  
    "Poison gas!" Inuyasha shouts.

  
    "Shit!" I spit out, quickly tumbling backwards out the only exit I know about. I tumble down the one step up to the wooden surface and fall back onto my back. My head slams into the dirt below. An aching pain snuffs out all other senses. My eyes shut tight and I hold my breath to prevent a groan of pain. All I can hear is a loud ringing.

  "Ke-Keara!" Myoga's voice penetrates through the ringing. Inside my head feels dizzy, I feel like I am going to vomit. The ringing dies down slowly, but my lunch is coming up quickly. Rolling out my side I wait for the bile and what I last ate, to rise up to my mouth but nothing comes. Opening my eyes, my vision is lopsided but no longer blurry.

  
    I see everything. Pebbles, each individual dirt. I've never been so happy to see....But I am ...so....fucking....angry. A hot energy curls up in the pit of my being, the edges of my vision burns red, my fists clench into the dirt at my sides.

  
    "Keara? Ar-....Are you okay?" Myoga shakes.

  
    I stand up, feeling the fumes of rage drip from me. I have no idea why I am angry....but I want to hurt...Twisting back towards the building, I can now see the two boys fighting the toad demon inside. Orbs large enough to hold live human inside, do as their size commands; human girls are naked, unconsciously trapped in what looks like egg sacs. I walk up the single step, and doing so I notice that sliding doors beside me are forced open until they creak and break at their ends. The screens fly off in pieces, and I don't bother looking.

  
    Ahead of me, both men turn towards me. Their eyes wide. Tetsusaiga is in its strongest form, prepped to kill but yet the demon is still alive. From my peripherals, Myoga leaps from my shoulder and towards Inuyasha.

  
    "Keara...?" Inuyasha mumbles.

  
    The way he says my names pumps me with adrenaline. It turns into fuel for my rage. The demon has fallen from their battle, his back against one of the large sacs. He has fear in his eyes but not for me, they are turned towards Inuyasha.

  
    "I don't want to die! Come to me! I need souls!" He shouts cowardly.

  
    Some of the girls in the sacs quiver and shake, trembling until their eyes shoot open and are empty and white.

  
    "No..." I hiss. The toad demon's eyes turn to me and then up at the sacs. The girls are still quivering and shaking but from his sudden confused expression I can tell they are not doing as commanded. I don't know what is stopping them and I don't care. I approach him slowly, with each step I've noticed, anything surrounding me is being pushed or thrown at some sort of distance. Is this the power I felt when battling Sesshomaru in that dark world?

  
    Once I am close enough I snatch the toad's bloated neck, his skin is sweaty and slimy enough my fingers and a part of me - one stuck deep inside and under all this anger, wants to gag. His eyes turn back to me, and in their reflection I see myself - but its not me...Like a ghost covering me in a near invisible aura, is another woman.  
She has long wavy black hair, and intense caramel brown eyes. Upon our forehead is a four pointed cross or star...she is beautiful but fierce, subtle but strong. I've seen her before. In my dreams. She's pushing me forward. The clutches of my hand tightens and tightens around his jugular, until I can almost feel the other ends.  
He's unable to breathe, limbs kicking and fighting but unable to reach me due to whatever force has pushed everything away.

  
    Beyond him, in the sac he leans against I see Princess Tsuyu. Her eyes are just as wide as his but not full of fear...instead....worry and panic. She watches the demon...with that....worried expression.

  
    ....The Lord is possessed.

  
_'Do it....believe it...believe in our power.'_ The woman exclaims. Just then the shard in his shoulder glows brighter than ever before. _'Purify him.'_ She commands.

  
    "Yes ma'am." I growl, I focus all my intent - all my rage on the demon I hold. Doing so, the feeling of the force singles him out. A burst of purplish pink rays shoots out from the hand that holds him. It envelopes him, popping out the shard and flying it towards my feet. The rays don't stop - as they continue to cover his entire being the body enough my grip seizures reverting back into a human male form while what is left in my hand is that of a smaller frog-like wisp. I clench my fist entirely and it evaporates in my hand as if it never existed to begin with.

  
    The man falls unconscious below me, much smaller than the demon had made him turn out be. The sacs all around us burst like jelly orbs, green and blue goo rains down, comforting the landing of all the sleeping victims. And as they land, all the anger and rage I feel, seeps from me leaving me standing with an apathy I...haven't quite felt.

  
    "Keara..." Inuyasha says again, this time, its with a tone...so much softer than I've ever heard.

  
    I twist back towards them. Nobugana makes a run for the princess now behind me. Passing me by as if I was nothing to begin with. And there...stands Inuyasha, Tetsusaiga back in its sheathe and the half demon staring at me with the warmest expression I've seen from anyone.

  
    Through the apathy, warmth hugs my heart, a smile tugs at my lips. "Inu..."

  
    Everything...goes black and all I feel is the air passing right through me.

\--*

  
**Chirp...Chirp.**

  
    Birds. They are singing a lovely tune. It is much nicer to hear than the war cry of demons and the sight of a battle forming in my head. All there is, is light. Struggling, I force open my eyes and I am greeted by a blue sky with white clouds passing by. The smell of fresh air, grass and the sight of leaves fluttering above.

  
    "You're awake."

  
    Craning my head back, I earn a stinging pain that runs along my spine from the back of my head. A groan rolls through me. Deciding to roll onto my side so I can look up without moving my head, I spot Inuyasha sitting there against a tree. His arms are crossed as are his legs, in his lap lies his faithful sword. Though not as warm, his eyes are still soft as they examine me.

  
    I must have fainted after what happened...all I remember was that demon in my hand...that woman who ...who....whatever she did. And then...all the girls falling to the ground. "Are they safe? Princess Tsuyu? The girls? Nobugana?"

  
    "They are all safe," Inuyasha nods his head to his right and I follow his direction to see Nobunaga sitting not to far from us. His back is towards us and his little monkey sits on top of his head. "They idjit...He went out of his way to save the princess and ended up also saving his only romantic rival."

  
    "That's me all right. Amari Nobunaga, world's biggest idjit and fool."

    
    Bringing myself up to sit down fully, I notice there is a blue blanket beneath me and all of our belongings at my side. Off beyond the cliffs edge far to my left I can see the palace. It looks more elegant now...free almost. No more demon aura coming from that monster of a fortress.

  
    "You are an idjit but you also saved a lotta lives."

  
    Nobunaga turns his head towards us and smiles, nodding confidently. "You know what? That cheers me up." He takes a stand, using a long stick that I didn't see by his side before this to use to walk. He starts forward, somehow oblivious to the cliffs edge.

  
    "Idjit..." Is all Inuyasha says before the boy plummets off the cliff. There is a landing sound not to soon after, reassuring me the fall wasn't that much of a drop. "Keara..." I look back to Inuyasha. He's holding out his left hand, its clenched shut but as I peer at it, he slowly opens it to relieve the shard that the toad demon had in his shoulder. "I don't know what happened to you, but...what I do know, they are safe with you. For now."

  
    His words are touching...He's never been this nice. We've gotten along so far but never have we tried to really...communicate and express anything other than casual  allies. I reach for the shard, taking the tiny thing with two fingers and lightly feeling along Inuyasha warm palm as I pull away. My fingers tingle, it runs up my arm sending goosebumps all over.

  
    "Thank you..."

  
    He nods and drops his hand back into his lap...and I smile, finally feeling as if I have earned...a friend.

  
    "Somebody....hel....help me."


End file.
